


Cruel Summer

by AnOldCardigan



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Smut, Underage Drinking, goes along with the series, jj being a smitten kitten, obx fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:15:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 59,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28268241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnOldCardigan/pseuds/AnOldCardigan
Summary: You were a Pogue. You had a very nice and perfect life; you had the nicest friends, you were popular. Until one summer, your best friend discovered that his father had left him a message to find a legendary boat that was assumed it sunk in the Outer Banks sea. What happens when you discover that it brought more trouble than you thought it would? Also, how a certain blonde guy started looking at you differently than before...(This would be you inside the actual series)
Relationships: JJ (Outer Banks)/Reader, JJ (Outer Banks)/You
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	1. Pilot

Outer Banks was… complicated let’s say. The whole island was divided in two groups. The kooks, the ones who lived in Figure 8, aka the place where rich, stuck-up people lived in. Memberships of golf clubs, lived in mansions, owned at least two yachts. And then the Pogues, who lived in The Cut. No power when big surges came, let’s not even talk about getting hot water to shower. They weren’t exactly the lucky ones.

You were a part of the last group. You were a Pogue and had basically lived your entire life with your mother, just you and her. You had a very, very, very complicated relationship with your father. He disappeared the moment you were born and reappeared when you were 14, begging for your forgiveness and to accept him as a member of your family with your mom. You obviously said no, and sometimes he gets himself into the house, try to talk to you, but you hate that. 

But you lived your life the best as you could. Your house was spacious, you had your own room but, as you lived in the cut, sometimes the water or food wasn’t enough for the both of you.

You had the luck of living your life along with your best friend, almost like a brother, John B Routledge. His father and your mother went to the same schools and were best friends. They never stopped hanging out so their kids grew up to be best friends for life.

Then JJ Maybank joined the group, in third grade. A blonde and blue-eyed boy who had a little bit of a habit of stealing things. At first you didn’t like him, he was a boy and it was most likely to captivate John B to hang out together separately. That didn’t happen, thankfully, the three were inseparable ever since. You surfed together, that was the thing you loved doing the most. 

When they were 13, a dark-skinned boy named Pope Heyward joined them. He was a little shy and nerdy but he got into the group really well. And lastly, Kiara Carrera joined in, your best friend. She was a kook, but different from the others, she wasn’t stuck up, didn’t brag and never ever hung out with them, she hated kooks as much as you did, and you were glad by it. 

Now let’s get to the story…

  
  
  


John B was standing at the edge of a rooftop, can of beer in his hand, trying to see if his balance was right. 

“That’s what, a three-story fall to the deck?” Pope asked, “I give you about a one-in-three chance of survival” 

You were sitting next to JJ, joint in between your fingers and his hand was full with a can of beer that you two were sharing. 

“You should jump, I’ll shoot you on the way down” he said, pointing at him with a hole punch in his hand.

“You’ll shoot me?” John B asked. 

Suddenly Kie came walking down, talking about godknows what. “They’re gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers'' 

“Of course they are, why wouldn’t they?” you asked, then brought the joint to your lips, and then exhaling the smoke.

“This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about the turtles, right?” Kie asked sarcastically.

“I can’t have cold towels” JJ said. 

Kie looked up, to find John B at the edge of the rooftop. “Could you please not kill yourself?” 

“Don’t spill that beer. I’m not giving you another one” JJ said, drinking the rest of the beer in his hand.

“Hey! We established we were gonna share!” you cried.

He laughed, passing you a closed one. “Here’s a new one” he said.

“Thank you, kind sir, here-” you said, passing him the blunt.

Suddenly John B’s voice cursing and the beer falling to the floor, crashing in the process, made you look at your friend.

“Of course you did” you said sarcastically. “Dumbass”

Pope looked at the entrance of the house you were currently staying in, of course it wasn’t yours, you just liked to jump into random properties to pass time. 

“Hey, uh, security’s here” Pope said. “Let’s wrap it up”

“Wow, boys are early today. Record time” you said standing up, to help JJ stand up too. 

“Gary is that you?” JJ yelled.

“I’m sure’s him” you said looking at the entrance. 

“Get down!” the security guard yelled.

You got down off the roof and made your way to escape the construction, along with the others. “It’s good to see you, man” you yelled.

The guard started yelling your names, making both of you laugh. You started running away from the guards, JJ grabbing your hand so you could run faster. 

“Hey stop!” Gary yelled.

The guard came towards you but JJ pushed you out of the way, so that the guard grabbed him but failed.

“Not much of a hugger, man!” JJ said laughing, you pulling his arm so that they could get out of the construction. 

“They’re going out front!”

“Go, Pope, go, go, go” you yelled at the boy who was waiting for you two.

You jumped the fence with ease and watched how Pope failed to do the same, falling face flat on the ground. You laughed.

“Come on, Pope, fatso’s coming” you said patting his back.

The guard looked at you without jumping the fence. 

“Come here you little pricks!”

“See ya” you and JJ said at the same time.

You, Pope and JJ got into the van just in time and John B started it, getting away from the construction you just invaded. 

“Hey, come here!” you heard Gary running towards the van. 

“Check out Gary running for a raise” you said getting your head out, JJ doing the same. “Come on Gary, you’re almost close” you yelled at him.

“You’re gonna give him a heart attack” Kie said.

“Hey, slow down” JJ said to John B. “Come on, Gary, you almost got it” JJ said.

“You’re so close, you can do it” you said, laughing, reaching out to handle the can of beer.

You threw it to him, and he caught it.

“Ah, there you go!” JJ said.

“They don’t pay you enough, bro” you said, getting your head inside the van.

You saw how Gary stopped in his tracks, trying to catch a breath. 

“Poor thingy” you said, pouting playfully.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  


You and Kie walked to the dock. It was midday and it was hot as hell. Cooler in your hand, you approached John B’s boat, the infamous: HMS Pogue. 

“Good morning y’all” you said, stepping on the boat. JJ stretched out a hand for you to take, helping you inside the boat. “I brought the food”

“You brought food?” he asked, not letting your hand go. 

“That I did, and beer too” you said. 

He sighed and kissed your hand. “Marry me, Y/N” he said dramatically.

You giggled taking out your hand. “In your dreams, J”

“Always” 

You and JJ had a complicated relationship. You flirted your asses back and forth all. the. time. It was more of a friendly thing, but deep down you both had feelings for each other, You never dared to say anything, and neither did he.

You opened the cooler and passed the beers around. 

Everyone was having a good time, until JJ decided to have fun of his own. “Bet you can’t do this,” he said, crouching down to grab his beer bottle. “Let me show ya a party trick” he said, standing on the front of the boat. 

“Terrifying,” Kie said.

“Make sure you don’t break your neck, while you’re at it” You said.

“Hey, Pope, can you go a little faster please?” JJ asked.

John B sighed and walked behind Pope. “Here we go, I’m moving”

“It doesn’t work,” Pope said.

You sighed. “Dude you’ve tried it like 6000 times” you said, running a hand through your hair.

“I got this, it's gonna work!” he exclaimed. 

His beer started to fly, getting in your hair and Kie’s.

“Agh, dude!” you exclaimed shaking it off your hair.

“You’re getting beer in my hair,” she said. 

“All right we got your point, you gotta stop” you said, trying to stand up. 

“JJ, stop” Pope said. 

Suddenly the boat came to a sudden halt. It sent JJ flying, doing a flip in the air (maybe two). You fell on top of Kie, making you both grunt in pain. John B and Pope… you guessed they fell on the other side of the boat. 

“Ah, shit. My leg” you cried.

“My whole body!” Kie groaned. “Jesus Pope!” 

John B stood up and went to where JJ had fallen. “You okay, JJ?”

“I think my heels touched the back of my head” he responded, floating in the water. 

You turned around fixing your bikini underneath your top, you had taken out the shorts right after you got in the boat, making sure it didn’t make anything pop out.

“JJ, you’re missing the private show here” John B joked.

“Ah, man seriously?” JJ groaned from the water. “Baby, you had to wait for me!”

You huffed. “Get your dirty ass back here, Maybank” you yelled at the blonde.

He sighed, “God I love it when you talk dirty to me” he smiled. “Pope, what did you do?” he asked.

“Sandbar, the channel changed” he responded, signaling to the screen behind the steering wheel. 

“No shit” you responded.

“Ugh, this is probably gonna mess this whole place up” John B said.

“Hey, I saved the beer though” JJ responded, lifting it.

“Good job, J” you said sarcastically. 

Pope started acting weird, like trying to see something underwater. “Guys… I think there’s a boat down there” 

“Shut up” you said.

“No way” Kie said. 

JJ started swimming faster to get where Pope was frantically pointing at.

“No seriously, guys. There’s a boat down there, for real”

“Holy fuck, it’s a boat” you exclaimed trying to see from the front of the boat. 

“Holy shit, he’s right,” Kie said. “Let’s go”

They all jumped in the water, but you stood there watching the boat. You really couldn’t believe it. What if it was something dangerous, what if there was a bomb down there. What if-

“Hey Y/N! Come on babe” JJ yelled from the water. 

“I’m just thinking that… what if there’s a bomb down there” you said.

John B huffed. “Come on” he encouraged you.

“Fine, you win” you said, taking off your shirt, JJ whistling at you, and dove into the water. 

The five of you inspected the boat. You noticed it was expensive, like hella, maybe it was property of a kook?

You got back to the surface, the others were already there. 

“You guys saw that?” you exclaimed trying to regain your breath. 

“Yeah” Pope said. 

“What the…” John B laughed. 

  
They all climbed up the boat, JJ offering his hands to you, helping you up. 

“That’s a Grady White, no doubt” you said, getting your towel to dry yourself off. 

"A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy," JJ said. “That’s primo rig”

You nodded. “Yep, the Thortons have one” you said.

JJ’s brows furrowed. “How would you know that?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“Cause I find Topper hella sexy” you joked, putting your arms around him, teasingly.

He huffed, rolling his eyes, making you giggle. 

"Yeah. That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge," he said looking at Pope.

You snorted. “You surfed the surge?” Kie asked.

“Yeah” he responded nonchalantly.

“That’s my boy, pogue style” JJ said.

“Yeah well let’s not do that” you scolded the blonde. 

“What the heck” Kie said. 

Pope was still trying to get on the boat. “Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?” he asked.

“No, but we’re about to find out” John B replied.

“Dude, it's too deep,” JJ said.

“Oh, only for the weak and feeble, JJ” he said, grabbing the anchor, throwing it to the marsh. 

“Well, I’m not resuscitating you. I’m just making it clear up front” the blonde joked.

“That’s fine”

“John B” you whined. “Why is getting yourself into dangerous shit your favorite sport, huh?” 

“Hey” John B said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down, okay? It’s just… taking a little peek, see what it is” he said.

You sighed and nodded at the brunette. You couldn’t help but catch JJ’s eyes on you and him, his jaw clenched. 

“John B” Kie said sternly.

“Diver down, fool” Pope smiled at him.

“Diver down” he saluted.

“Yeah, he is” JJ said, pushing him to the water. 

John B crashed into the water, you gasped, surprised by the blonde’s actions. “JJ!” you said, hitting his back. 

After a few minutes down in the water, he still hadn’t resurfaced. 

“Shouldn’t we go get him?” you asked, voice trembling. Then he appeared, coughing the life out of him. “There he is!”

“Oh my God, that took forever!” Kie said.

“Any dead bodies?” Pope asked.

“Oh! Oh! Was it a crime scene?” you asked like a little child.

“Looting potential?” JJ asked.

“No, no” John B said, swimming towards the boat. “I found this motel key” the key, swinging in his finger.

“A key” you stated.

“Yeah, a key, Y/N”

“Great we salvaged a motel key” JJ said, helping John B into the boat.

“Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard. Maybe we’ll get a finder’s fee” Kie said once the boat had continued it’s way through the marsh.

“Yeah, and not work all summer” JJ said.

“Thanks Agatha, ya batch” you said, making the blonde beside you smile, and tickle you. “Ah stop” you cried out.

Well, you, John B and JJ tried to report it to coast guard, but it was full with people claiming lost stuff, that it turned out to be impossible. So John B came up with the terrible plan of getting inside the motel room. You protested the idea, but John B who had always been a very stubborn person, insisted that it was a good idea. 

“This is your captain speaking. HMS Pogue comin in for landing” JJ said mimicking a captain. He jumped off the boat, and offered your hand to get out of the boat. You took it, John B jumping off the boat next to you. “This is a terrible idea” you protested. 

“All right, here goes nothing,” the brunette said. 

“Hey” Pope called you. 

“Yeah?” you answered turning around. 

“Don’t let him do anything stupid” Pope said, poinitng at JJ. 

“Oh, we will” JJ said.

“I’m making no promises, bud” you said, coming to swing an arm over his shoulders. He put an arm around your waist pulling you closer to him. 

“Yeah, I know” Pope groaned. 

“Be careful” Kie said, handing him the motel key. “I mean it”

You and JJ looked at each other, and smirked. 

“Yeah,” John B chuckled nervously. “Let’s go” he said, slapping JJ’s shoulders. 

The three of you made their way to the Motel stairs, up to the hallway where all the other rooms were located.

“Just be so careful, John” JJ mocked Kie. 

You laughed, walking past them, to the front. 

“God, you’re so weird” John B protested.

“Yeah, it’s J’s second… or third name?” you said. 

John B chuckled at your comment. 

“What was that about?” JJ asked about what Kie said earlier.

“I don’t know, maybe she wants us to be careful” he responded.

“Since she heard you’re being threatened with exile, she’s just been, like,-” he said, “Oh be so careful John B”

“Get off” John B protested.

“Oh just give me that John D already´” he said like he was Kie, “When are you gonna swoop on that man?” 

John B pointed at you, and JJ widened his eyes and shook his head, pointing a finger to his lips like:  _ shut up, don’t say anything.  _ You were totally unaware of this, they were behind you.

You huffed. “JJ, let me remind you Kiara’s a woman, not an object. Well, how can you understand with your pea-sized brain?” you said.

“Good one” John B said, flicking your head, making you smile. “Bro, you know the rule. No Pogue-on-Pogue macking. Besides you’re the one who’s always hitting on her”

“Of course I’m hitting on her”

Well, that made your stomach drop.

“She’s a super-hot, rich, hippie chick slumming with us” he said. “Why? I can’t figure that out either bro, but who cares? I know that door’s locked because I tried it, have you?”

You sighed, without meaning to. 

“Oh, don’t be jealous baby, you know you’re always my number one hot girl” he said, arm over your shoulder, bringing you closer, pressing a kiss to your cheek. 

“Get off” you laughed. 

“You need help” John B said. “Not a little help, you need a lot of help. It’s like every girl who just has a heartbeat you’re like ‘uggh’” John B moans.

You roll your eyes and sigh. You didn’t want to hear it. “What? It’s not a big deal” JJ said.

“Okay, losers we’re here. Twenty-nine” you said clearing your throat.

“This is it” John B confirmed. 

JJ knocked on the door. “Housekeeping” he said in a high-pitched voice. 

He continued to knock but no one answered. You checked the window and saw nothing.

“Should we try it?” John B asked.

“Yeah” you said.

“No power, no security cameras. No one’s gonna know” JJ said.

JJ went inside and you stood behind him. 

“Huh” John B said looking inside.

“Okay, let’s see what we got here” you said, checking inside the room. 

“Check the bag. See if there’s a name on there somewhere” John B said.

You shuffled inside of the bag and found a jacket. “Well, a jacket. No name on the jacket… it’s a nice jacket though” 

“Definitely over 50. He’s got New Balance’s.“ John B said,

JJ looked at a map. “Yo, come here” he said. You approached him and looked at where he was. “Maybe this is where they were fishing,” he said. 

You bit your lip, drawing his attention. “Nah, that’s off the continental shelf. That’s Big Swell, nobody fishes there” you said looking into his eyes once you finished.

He sighed. “You know, you really turn me on when you talk to me like that” he said, putting a hand on your waist.

“Oh yeah?” you flirted back, biting your lip, his gaze falling to it. 

“Hey! You two, stop flirting and continue looking” John B said sternly. 

The three of you continued to look inside the motel room and John B found a cup of coffee. 

“Standard tissues, for when you get lonely” JJ said pointing with his flash, doing a funny British accent. “Oh” you heard him say over in the bathroom.

“Did you find anything?” you said with a surprisingly good british accent. 

“A really awesome Dopp kit you won’t let me steal” he said, 

“Yeah, cause we’re not stealing shit” you said. You saw him shove something to his pocket, and when he turned around, he found you watching. “My… wallet fell off”

You nodded. “Yeah sure. I totally believe you”

John B apparently found a safe, and he was crouched in front of it, punching random numbers on it.

“Punching shit at random. That will… definitely work” JJ said.

You found a little paper with random numbers on it so you grabbed it. “Here, why don’t you try this?” you offered it to him.

“Oh great, thanks Y/N” he said, grabbing it. 

He punched the written numbers on the paper and the safe opened. You and John B high-fived each other. 

“Have you ever heard of shoals?” JJ continued saying random stuff, looking at the map.

“J, honey” you said, your eyes not leaving the inside of the safe. “Come take a look at this” you said. “You’re gonna like it”

“Is there a picture of you naked?” he joked, making you laugh. “Holy shit” he said, grabbing the gun.

“And you grabbed the gun, of course you grabbed the gun” you said rolling your eyes, face-palming yourself. 

“Dude, dude, dude-”

“Put the gun back, JJ” John B said.

“This is a SIG Sauer! This is a fucking spendy gatt, man! Just… bam, bam” he said.

“JJ! Come on” you protested. 

“Hey, grab your phone and take a pic” he said.

“So we incriminate ourselves? Is that what you’re talking about, J? Yeah, I pass” you told him, grabbing his shirt, so he could stop acting childishly. 

You noticed some taps on the windows. 

“What’s that?” you asked, lifting the curtain. You saw Pope and Kie mouthing  _ Cops! _ And you panicked. “Ah, shit. Cops are coming” you whispered. 

You tried to leave everything that you grabbed in it’s same place as before you got there and sighed, the panic in your body elevating with every second.

“Kildare County Sheriff Department” you heard Sheriff Shoupe’s voice through the door. 

The boys opened the door and climbed out. They helped you get through and obviously, JJ pinned you to the wall, his body protecting yours. “Seriously?” you whispered.

“Now is not the time to flirt, babygirl. Okay?” JJ answered whispering too. 

The cops entered the room and started snooping around, looking for evidence. You tried to walk to the window to peep, but JJ held your hips in place. “Are you crazy?”

“Just let me see” you said, looking inside.

You looked inside, and saw Shoupe slipping the cash to the other officer. You and John B locked eyes, seeing the same thing. 

“What the hell?” you whispered.

‘What?” he asked in your ear, his breath fanning the side of your face.

“Shoupe just slipped her the cash” 

JJ’s eyebrows furrowed and tried to grab something, the gun from his pocket falling, and making a very loud noise on the ground. You both cringed and closed their eyes, praying that the sheriff wouldn’t discover you. You and JJ looked at each other and you looked away, flushed. He looked at your lips for a second and then looked away, flushed too at the proximity. Shoupe’s face was suddenly visible and you gasped, surprised. JJ quickly slapped gently his hand on your mouth, shushing you. John B held a finger to his lips. 

“All right, let’s go” the three of you heard the Sheriff say. He grabbed the keys and exited the motel room. 

“Holy shit, you saw that?” you asked. 

JJ squeezed your waist. “Yeah, what the hell”

They got down to the ground, and into the HMS Pogue. They sped off through the marsh, away from the motel. 

“Well that was fun” you said, sighing. 

“Could’ve warned us a little sooner,” JJ said, sitting next to you.

“We would have, except Pope was on the math team” Kie said.

“You were on the math team?” JJ laughed. 

“The cops took everything like it was a crime scene” John B said sternly. 

“Did you find anything?” Pope asked. 

“Did we find anything?” he asked sarcastically. “No, I don’t think so. Oh, yeah we did” he smiled, taking the gun and a wad of cash out of his pocket.

“Oh God” you said beside him. 

“What the hell” Pope said.

“Dude, what?” Kie groaned. 

“Dude, chill. Come on” JJ protested. 

“Why take that from a crime scene?” Pope asked desperately. 

“Better than the cops having it!”

“Are you serious! God, JJ you’re gonna be the death of all of us” you said plopping down on your seat.

Pope sighed and exhaled. “I’m gonna lose my merit scholarship,” he said panicking. 

“Hey, hey, shh, shh, shh” he shushed him. The gun was in front of Pope now. “At least you have us, right?” he said, patting the side of his face.

“I’m living the nightmare,” he said sitting down. 

The five of you had returned to the coast guard to report the sunken boat once again, but there were too many people. They were whispering, like shocked about something. They sat in a place that gave them a full view of a man in an ambulance bed, and a woman grabbing his face, sobbing.

JJ stood there, hand on your shoulder while everyone looked at the scene. 

“Who’s that?” John B asked from his seat.

A girl next to him said, “it’s Scooter Grubbs. He was out during the storm. Check out this pic I got, dead body” the girl said, laughing.

They all looked at the twisted girl’s phone. You looked away. “Isn’t she creepy?” you whispered at JJ who was next to you. He nodded, making a grimace. 

“What kinda boat did he have?” you asked the girl.

“Somehow, that dirtbag copped a brand-new Grady White. Everyone’s out looking for it” she responded.

Your eyes widened.  _ Oh crap.  _

You turned around to look at JJ who was already looking at you. The others looked at each other, surprised as hell. 

You were in deep shit. 


	2. Long Story Short

Pope came running to the Chateau panting and freaking out. “Okay, so uh… we didn’t see anything. We don’t know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia” he said.

“Actually Pope’s right, for once” JJ chimed in. You sent him a confused look, making him shrug his shoulders. “See I agree with you sometimes, deny, deny, deny” he said pointing at each other. 

“Guys we can’t keep that money” Kie said. 

“Okay, not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kiara” JJ said. 

You sighed, peeling yourself off the wall to sit where JJ had sat. “We really should give it to Lana Grubbs, technically it was her husband’s” you said, sitting down with a sigh.

Kie nodded, “You see? Otherwise is bad karma” Kiara said, gesturing to you. 

“Bad karma to be implicated in felony, too. We gotta go dark” he said. 

“If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree” JJ said. 

“No, JJ” you said, shaking your head at the blonde. “You won’t keep the money”

“I don’t agree.” John B said, patting his shoulder.

“What? Why?” JJ asked, surprised at his best friend’s words. 

“Just think about it,” John B started. “This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about, right? Same dude that’s buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We’re talking about a dirtbag marina rat who’s never had more than 40 bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden he’s got a Grady White? Just saying” he rambled on. 

“Maybe?” you said unsure. “You may be right on this one, JB”

He smiled at you, and everyone went to grab the fishing lanes, and walked to the dock located in front of John B’s house. 

John B continued basing his opinion. “All right, so think about it, Pope. How does a marina rat get a Grady White?” he asked looking at the boy.

“Prostitution” he said.

You and JJ snorted at the same time. 

“Square groupers, bro” the brunette said like it was beyond obvious. “Okay, flying under the radar, no aerial surveillance. They don’t do that stuff during a hurricane. What does that mean?” he said looking at you and the others for support. You and Kie looked at each other and shrugged. “JJ?”

“They were straight smugglin” he answered. 

You arched an eyebrow. 

“Smuggling” John B said. “And I guarantee there’s a serious amount of contraband in that wreck”

“Hell yeah” he said and suddenly his line gave a sharp tug. “Oh, fish on”

They settled down in JJ's room at the Chateau, and because there was no more space, you decided to plop down on JJ’s lap. Obviously he was happy as hell, wrapping his arm around your waist. There was actually a lot of space on the bed where Pope was currently sitting but JJ’s lap was a hundred times way more comfortable than a bed.

“For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it… it probably belongs to someone” Pope said. 

“Minor details“ Kie added.

“They could come looking for it, taking it would be catastrophically stupid” Pope said and you nodded, agreeing with him.

“Right, well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time” you said, grabbing the wad of cash he had in his hand, showing off the amount of cash. 

JJ grasped it in his hands, and opened his mouth “All we need is to figure out a way to get into the cargo hold of that wreck“

“Until then… we can lay low. Act normal?” you added. JJ nodded at you.

“Right, and how exactly do we do that?” Pope asked. 

Nobody responded. “Kegger?” you suggested, shrugging your shoulders. 

You decided that the idea of the party at the Boneyard was a very good idea to lay low. So, you threw a party ‘Pogue Style’. All invited, included the kooks. You were sat with all of your friends, drinking beer and laughing all together.

“Okay, Y/N, who's the lucky guy you’re taking home tonight?” Kie asked you.

JJ’s hold on your waist tightened, and you sucked on a breath. Was he jealous? You bit your lip at the thought.

“Eh, I don’t know, really. There’s this touron I talked with earlier, he’s kinda giving me a naughty look right now, there--” you said, looking at the touron, winking at him, lifting your cup up. “Maybe he’ll do” you shrugged.

JJ beside you sighed. 

“Aw, don’t be jealous, baby” you said, grabbing his chin. “You know you’re my number one hot guy” you said mimicking his words from earlier and smirking at the blonde. 

“Yeah, whatever. I’m gonna go grab another beer” he stood up without sparing you a glance, and then walked to where John B was, serving the beer and passing it to the other tourons and pogues.

You furrowed your eyebrows. Kie sat there, sipping on her beer, smirk on her face. “What was that about?”

“Oh, Y/N, don’t be so clueless! He was so jealous of you and that touron” she said smirking.

“Of course not, him and I are just friends, besides he sleeps with half the girls in Outer Banks and I’m aware we flirt a lot, but he never made a move on me. Like ever. And like… we’re best friends” you said, the last part quietly. “Don’t forget the no pogue-on-pogue macking!”

“God, Y/N, John B made that rule when he was 13 because he was afraid of this” Kie said.

“Of what” you asked, completely clueless.

“Of you and JJ! You’re his best friend, and he was afraid that maybe you and JJ were something else, and he’d lose you and him” Kie said.

You were surprised. “He said that?”

“Girl, you and him have so much chemistry, anyone here can see it” Kie said. “Even when you guys were 13”

You stayed silent replaying what Kie said like three hundred times inside your head.

“But like I told you, he made the rule when he was 13, he was a kid. He’s 16 now” she said. “I’m sure he won’t mind if anything happens”

“You think so?” you asked her. “I don’t know Kie, JB’s my brother. I don’t want anything upsetting him and less, something that I do”

She nodded, “I’m telling you. Let’s forget about boys, right now. Cheers” she said clinking your beers together.

“Cheers” you responded, laughing.

You two took a sip of your beer and cleared your throat, once you gulped down the liquid. “So… Kie. John B, huh? That brunette pogue surfer has caught your eye...” you shook your own shoulders playfully at your friend.

“Oh, shut up. That won’t happen. Ever” she said.

“Why not? You’re hot, he’s hot” you encouraged the girl. “If you pursue, he will do too. I’m sure he’s great in be--”

“He’s your brother” Kie stated, interrupting you, kind of disgusted by the description you just gave her.

You shrugged. “I’m trying to be the matchmaker here, Kie. All right?” you said, and she sighed. “I know, he’s kinda dumb. He lives in a… hell hole. He’s stubborn, I know. But he’s a nice guy”

“But he’s my friend, Y/N!” she said.

You tried to reason with her but she put her hand up, stopping you. 

“I don’t like him like that! I just worry about him a lot cause he likes to get himself into trouble, sometimes, and this is big, more than JJ. Like he had a plan of going inside a motel room, because we found a key in a sunken boat. And then we found out the guy from the boat  _ and _ the motel room was indeed, dead” she finished. She tried to keep her voice down, in case anyone would’ve heard her. “Do you think I have the patience and dedication to be with someone that is like that? No!” what she said, kind of made sense.

“Okay, whatever you say” you replied sighing. 

As the night fell, you stayed with that touron who was giving you the naughty look, making out. It wasn’t that great but it beated being alone and you wanted to forget about JJ ‘liking’ you or whatever Kie had said earlier. Until you heard the awful sound of punches. You pulled away from the boy and went to see what happened, muttering an apology to the boy that had his tongue shoved down your throat earlier. Topper was punching John B on the ground. You groaned.  _ What part of lay low didn’t they understand? _ You thought.

You approached where JJ was. “Dude, what happened? Does John B find the concept of ‘laying low’ too difficult to understand?”

He didn’t answer, just pointed at the fight. You turned around and found Topper and John B in the middle of a fight, threatening looks on each other’s faces.

“Hey, John B, don’t make me drown you like your old man, all right?” Topper said, smirking like a fucking dirty kook.

That made your blood go cold,  _ how dare he?  _ You thought. “That fucker-let me go!” you said reaching to fight Topper but JJ held you in place.

They continued tackling themselves on the shore and you just grabbed your head, not knowing what to do. 

“Hey, John B let him go” Pope yelled. 

“Stop, come on!” you yelled, Kie yelling along with you. “What part of ‘laying low’ you don’t fucking understand?”

But obviously they didn’t stop. “Topper stop!” you heard Sarah yell.

John B punched Topper right on the face, and JJ whistled. “That’s what I’m talking about”

“God, just-stop!” you yelled once you saw Topper hit John B again.

John B pushed him into the ocean, and approached him to hit him again, but he tackled him. He struggled to stand up, as he pressed a hand to his head.

“Oh shit” you heard JJ say from behind you.

“Fuck, he’s-he’s drowning him” you said.

JJ grabbed his backpack, and you were confused at what he was going to grab. He walked up to Topper and you heard something click.  _ Fuck, the gun, _ you thought, your eyes widening.

“Yeah, you know what that is. Your move, broski” he said, putting the gun to the back of Topper’s head. 

“Come on dude, chill” Sarah yelled. “Put the gun down!” 

“Did you say something princess?” JJ yelled at her, but not even bothering to look at her. 

“We’re good, we’re good” Topper said, panicking of course.

“Y/N could you check your psycho boyfriend, please?” Sarah yelled desperately. 

You walked up to him, trying to calm him down, but he stood up from Topper, walking past you. 

“Okay everyone, listen up!” he yelled. “Get the hell off our side of the island!” and then he fired the gun twice. 

You covered your head, the gunshots way too loud for your ears. 

“JJ! What the actual fuck is wrong with you!” you yelled at him, giving him a push on the shoulder before running to John B’s rescue, who was still face flat on the water.

“Are you crazy? You idiot” Pope said, pushing him.

“I was saving his life okay?“ JJ defended himself.

You tried to grab John B who was struggling to hoist himself up. “Hey, JB, you hear me?” you tried. He just kept coughing, and breathing. “Shit” 

“You’re gonna jeopardize everything!” you heard Pope yell.

“GUYS!” you yelled as loud as you could, trying to make them snap out of it. The three turned around to you, kinda startled. Rushing to you, John B passed out. 

After you guys moved him to the Chateau, you put him in his bed, and put the sheet over his chest. You kissed his cheek, and sighed, rubbing your eyes at the headache you had from worrying about him. Kie and Pope were gathering their stuff together. “You guys gonna go?” you asked when you noticed Kie and Pope had their backpacks slinged over their shoulders.

They nodded. Kie hugged you, and you hugged her back.

“You okay?” she whispered. You caught JJ’s eye, who quickly looked away, the eye contact making his eyes watery. He knew he had fucked up and he was going to receive your disappointment stare, the one that he hated with every single cell in his body. 

“Yeah, I was kinda in the middle of a hook-up but... ” you said laughing, making her laugh too. “He was a bad kisser, it didn’t matter”

“You’re hot as hell, you’re gonna get even more guys” she said, patting your back.

You smiled at the girl and pulled out of the hug. “I love you”

“Love you, too, Y/N” she said, walking to the door, Pope following her.

“Good night” he said, waving. You waved back, smiling slightly, and looked at JJ who was too busy staring at the floor. You sighed and picked up your bag. 

“Can I walk you home?” you heard behind you.

You really couldn’t say no to him. And by the way he was looking at you by the time you turned around to face him, you were helpless. You were mad at him, of course you were. Who wouldn't? What if he got himself in deep shit after this? What if the cops heard about him having a gun? What would he say about where he got it from?

“Yeah” you said, your voice small. 

The walk home was silent. It was just four blocks away, but JJ never let you walk home alone, the Cut was way too dangerous for you to walk home alone at night. As you reached the front porch steps, you sighed, not even saying goodbye.

“Y/N-” he started. But you cut him off,

“No” you said sternly. “What part of ‘laying low’ didn’t you understand, JJ? Pulling a fucking gun? Are you crazy? That’s stupid, like beyong reckless, even for you”

“I know” his voice small. “I know, I’m sorry” he whispered, clearly ashamed of himself.

You pursed your lips. “What if you get in trouble after this, J? Huh? Did you think about what could possibly happen? The cops, the kooks, what-” you choked. “What about your dad?” 

Your tears were forming in your eyes just by thinking about the things his dad would do to him if he found out about the gun thing. 

“Y/N, don’t worry, I’m fine, I always am” he whispered. His arms came around you, holding you very tight in a hug.

You sighed, hugging him back, your hands running over his thin shirt. “I just… I’m so scared something will happen to you” you whispered, your voice trembled slightly. “I kinda always worry, it’s basically part of my daily routine” you laughed.

“None of that, okay? Don’t worry about me” he said, pulling away, his hands coming to frame your face, his thumbs rubbing over your cheekbones, a little smile adorned his lips at your previous words. 

You stared at his blue eyes. Those damn blue eyes, the ones you could get lost in for hours, maybe days, weeks, months. Your tongue involuntarily came to wet your lips, and his gaze fell to your lips. You two leaned in a little but a door opening made you both startle.

“Hey Y/N, sweetie. You’re home. JJ, honey, how are you?” your mother greeted. Yeah, your mother loved JJ, like her own son.

He smiled at her. “I’m good, Miss Y/L/N. You?”

“Oh, I’m great honey. Wanna come in?” she asked. “I just prepared food, I made spaghetti, well, what I could get from the market since Agatha happened” she laughed.

He shook his head. “It’s a nice offer, Miss Y/L/N but I’m okay, thank you though, I gotta head home” he said stepping back. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” he said, looking at you. 

“No, wait. Don’t go… your dad-” you said, desperately grabbing his wrist, pulling him back to you.

“I’ll be fine, Y/N” he smiled, placing a kiss to your cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, babe. See ya, Mrs. Y/L/N, it was nice seeing you” he yelled at your mom. 

She waved at him and he walked home. You sighed, thinking the worst. What if his dad heard what happened at the beach? Or even worse, what if his dad finds the gun and does something to him? You wiped your face with your hands, sighing heavily. You were thinking things way too much and your headache was getting worse and worse.

You stood watching him, hearing your mother come down the steps.

“You okay, hun?” she asked, rubbing your back with her hand.

You nodded and smiled at her. “Yeah, I worry about him. That’s all” you laughed slightly. “I kinda always do, though”

“Yeah, well he’s a Maybank, you should worry about him” your mother said.

You furrowed your eyebrows. “He’s not like his dad, and he’ll never be like him”

“No, I know. That’s why I say you  _ should _ worry about him. Luke gets crazy constantly and we don’t want JJ to be the one he lashes out with. I know that fucker pretty well” she said. 

You nodded; your mother was right. Luke Maybank was dangerous. It wouldn’t be the first time if JJ showed up out of nowhere, knocking at your window, bloody shirt and wounds covering up his whole body. You always helped him by cleaning his wounds, making him a nice dinner or snack, depending on the time and then, you let him stay the night.

“Also I see the way he looks at you, Y/N” your mom said casually.

Your heart started beating repeatedly against your ribcage. “Whoa, what now?” you asked confused. 

She sighed and pulled you for a side-hug. “That boy’s head over heels in love with you, Y/N, everyone can see it, honey.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “What?”

“Oh, you too. I can see it, I’m not dumb. I may be a little old but I ain’t clueless, missy” she smirked.

You struggled to find the words, but you really couldn’t.

“No, I don't,” you whispered. She looked at you with an eyebrow raised. You bit your lip, looking at his barely visible walking-body. “Okay, maybe a little bit, but that doesn’t change anything, okay?” you said, running your hands through your hair.

“Come on, it’s late, lovebird. The pasta is getting colder” she said patting your back, and making her way inside the house, a little smirk playing on her lips. 

This was going to get interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Tell me what you think in the comments.
> 
> Ps: as you may have noticed, every chapter was named after a song. You can guess from which artist in the comments!


	3. Bad Decisions

The next day, you all ended up in the Chateau as always. John B had texted all of you to come quickly because he needed to tell you something important. 

You sat on a chair next to Kie, and John B stood there, without saying a word, you guessed he was nervous. 

“Look, I’m calling it off, all right?” he said. You sighed, and he turned at you. “Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she’ll help me with DCS”

“And you believed her?” you asked him, biting your lip incredulously. Arms crossed over her chest. John B never messed with the police, this was weird for him. 

“Yes, I believe her, Y/N” he said, looking at you, a serious expression on his face, making you scoff and look away.

“An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop” JJ said, throwing rocks God Knows where.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple of days, and she’ll help me out” John B said to him, “It doesn’t help that your ass was the one shooting a gun”

“You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass” JJ responded.

You huffed. This was too much testosterone.

“Topper was gonna drown me?” John B asked like he didn’t believe him.

“Sure looked like it, have you looked in a mirror?” JJ said, standing up.

John B huffed. “Tell me some more, come on” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“They always win, don’t they, man?” he said, putting his weight on the wood supporting the porch. “Kooks versus Pogues, They always, always win! Goddamn” he said, punching the coconuts decorating the porch of the Chateau.

“Look, it's okay,” Kie said next to you. 

“No, it’s not okay” JJ said, yelling at her. “It is not! They don’t want us to go down into the marsh, that means there’s something valuable down there, and you know it, man” he said pointing at John B. “I know you do. And I understand why you don’t wanna go-” he said looking at Pope, “You’re the golden boy. You got way too much to risk. And you- I mean, you’re rich as fuck anyways” he said looking at Kie.

“Hey!” you stood up in front of him. “That is not fair, JJ”

He scoffed. “Y/N, why would she bother?” 

You rolled your eyes at him. It wasn’t fair that he lashed out on Kie like that. 

“You, and you-” he said, pointing at you and then turning at John B. “we got nothing to lose! We really don’t, all right?” 

“JJ” you started. He put a hand up and you sat quietly.

“And I know, John B, it didn’t use to be this way for you” he said.

“I don’t wanna talk about this. I don’t wanna talk about it” John B said looking away from him.

He sat up, walking towards JJ. “So that’s it?” 

John B pushed the blonde. “Just get out of my way, bro”

“John B, listen to me. I have a plan. You got the key to Cameron’s big boat, right?” JJ started walking to the brunette who had his arms crossed over his chest. “There’s scuba gear, we borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that’s what’s gonna save you man” 

John B stood there thinking. You watched your best friends, one trying to be a decent human, and the other, whispering to the other, like he was the devil himself. It wouldn’t be the first time JJ convinced John B to do his devilish ideas.

“You don’t see rich kids going into foster care, do you?” JJ whispered to his friend.

John B seemed like he was going to do it. So you huffed, and looked at Kie who had the same expression as  _ he listened to JJ, again _ . 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


When John B got back with the tanks, you sat tinkering around with the tanks. “Uh… JB?” you said, showing him the tank you had in hand.

“Yeah?” he said. 

“You do realize you took empty tanks, right?” you smiled sarcastically, dropping it on the seat of the HMS Pogue. 

JJ snorted. “You took empty tanks?” Kie asked, rolling her eyes at the brunette.

“I…-” he started, but you cut him off.

“Okay. This one’s a quarter full” you said, looking at one, and then turning it around so that everyone could see.

“Oh, it’s enough for one of us” Kie said. You nodded along. 

“Yup” you said, popping out the ‘P’.

“Love it when a plan comes together” JJ said. 

You grabbed the tank standing up. “Does anyone here know how to dive?” you asked. No one responded, making you sigh. “Anybody?” you tried.

“It’s kind of a kook sport,” JJ said, looking at Kie. 

Pope pinched the bridge of his nose. “I… read about it”

“Great, Pope read about it, so someone’s gonna die” you said sacrastically, dropping the tank on the floor gently. 

“Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?” JJ asked innocently.

Pope piped in. “Well if you come up too fast, nitrogen comes into your blood, and you get the bends” 

You nodded at him.

“Bends like… bend over” he said, bending over, looking at you.

You snorted, and came closer to him. “The bends kill you” and you patted his shoulder twice. His cheeks reddened a little bit and you found it extremely cute. 

“...Right” he said sheepishly. You smiled at him, laughing softly.

“I can dive,” John B said all of a sudden. 

“You can dive, I’m cool with that” JJ said, smirking, no hesitation.

Kie looked at John B, confused.

“Since when can you dive?” she asked. 

You sighed. John B seriously had a kink with risking his life because of JJ’s stupid plans. 

“I’ll do it, it’s fine” he said. 

“Let me do some calculations real quick” Pope said.

You stood there biting your lip. It definitely wasn’t a great idea. But maybe it was the best they had in years. 

“You serious about this?” you asked him.

“Yeah, a hundred percent” he said, no hesitation laced in his voice and you sighed, defeatedly. There was no convincing him not to do it.

Pope started doing some calculations in nerd-language, and you stood there, nodding your head, pretending to know whatever he was planning. 

You got an idea, taking your shirt in a swoop and diving to the marsh. You were very unaware of the show you just gave everyone… well to JJ.

The four stood there watching you. 

“What was that all about?” Pope asked from his seat.

JJ stood there, like a lovesick puppy, biting his lip at what he had just witnessed. “I don’t know, but I liked it. A lot” he said, a little flush creeping up his cheeks.

John B lifted an eyebrow at him. JJ shrugged his shoulders as in  _ what? I can’t help it.  _ Kie sat with a smirk on her lips. You would definitely like to hear what he just said. 

“Uh… so, when you’re down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this inside and twist, and pull. Okay?” JJ said, breaking the awkward tension.

“Yeah” John B nodded. 

You reappeared in the water, swimming over to the end of the boat, crawling up your way to it. JJ came by to help you, handing you his towel. You smiled at him thankfully and he winked at you. 

“So, I tied my shirt to the anchor chain about… ten feet down” you said, patting yourself with the towel, trying to get the blush from your cheeks to disappear. “It’s where you need to do your safety stop, okay?” you informed him.

“Cool” he responded easily. “Thanks”

“No prob” you said.

“Okay, keep an eye on this” Pope said, pointing at the device that was connected to the tank that he was going to use. “You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress” 

“Okay, how much do I need?” John B asked.

Pope hesitated. “Unclear. Breathe as little as possible” he said.

“Zen, think Zen, you know?” JJ said, imitating breathing through the mask. 

“Yeah, got it” John B said, getting ready to dive into the water.

“Don’t die, please” you yelled at him. 

He chuckled. “I won’t”

“Hey, if we get caught here in the marsh, we’re basically screwed, so, better get a move on” Pope said, and everyone nodded.

“Copy that” he said.

Kie walked to John B and placed a kiss to his cheek. You smirked at her, and JJ, that was next to you, smirked too. 

“Diver down?” John B asked, kind of dumbfounded.

“Diver down” Kie said, nodding.

John B dove himself into the water and searched the Grady White, checking if there were valuable items in there. Kie went to sit down and you and JJ stood there watching her, amused smiles on their faces.

“What?” she asked innocently.

You pursed your lips, stifling a laugh. “Oh, nothing, Miss Routledge”

Kie scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I’m gonna kill you, Miss Maybank” she winked.

You blushed and stuck out your tongue to her, making the girl laugh.

“I actually like how that sounds” JJ smirked at you, and you winked at his direction. 

“Gross” you heard Pope mutter from the driver’s seat.

A few minutes passed, silently, and suddenly you heard the police sirens. Pope stood up. “Shit, JJ” he said.

You two turned around and your heart dropped to your stomach. Cops. Great.

“Guys, that’s the police” he said.

You huffed, panicking. “Ugh, you gotta be kidding me” 

JJ put a hand on your waist, calming you down. “Yep, that’s the police”

“Okay, what do we do? Or what do we say, oh gosh we’re gonna get caught” you whispered, your heart racing at how nervous you were.

“Hey, we got this” he reassured you, the hand on your waist, rubbing up and down. 

“Just act frickin’ normal” Kie said, flicking her hair over her shoulder, sitting straight. 

You nodded and stood straight, trying to calm yourself down a little bit to seem nonchalant about the fact that your best friend was diving looking through the boat that these cops were looking for. The police boat came closer to the HMS Pogue, Shoupe came to tie their boat next to yours. 

“Evening officers,” Pope said.

“Evening” Shoupe saluted. “Where’s your friend?” he asked, referring to John B.

“Oh, he’s working” you lied, and he nodded, buying it like a fool. 

The officer came inspecting the boat. Your nerves elevated at a high pitch and you couldn't control your breath. JJ came to stand behind you, throwing an arm over your stomach, pulling you closer. That visibly made you calm down, sighing softly, and interlocking your fingers with his. Shoupe stood on the edge of the boat trying to see if he caught something underwater, but really couldn't find anything. The four of you were worried that he’d find John B and the worst part, in no time he’d be running out of air.

Shoupe finally let it go. “All right, let us know if you see anything on your way out” he said, pushing his sunglasses further up his nose. He was clearly disappointed he didn’t have the chance to see something down there, incriminating you and the guys.

“Will do” you responded with a fake smile.

“We’ll be gone soon sir” JJ said from behind you.

When his boat was far away enough, the four of you ran to the edge of the boat to see where John B was. 

“He’s definitely out of air” you said, panicking.

Suddenly John B popped out of the water, coughing and taking off the mask from his face.

“Ah, there he is” you smiled, sighing with relief.

“Jesus Chirst, don’t scare us like that” Pope said, helping him get on the boat again.

“How did it go down there?” JJ asked, grabbing the now-empty tank from his back, depositing it back on the floor with the rest of the others he took with him. 

“You find anything?” You asked, curiously. 

“Did I find anything?” John B said smiling.

You whooped victoriously. “Yeah, there we go! That’s my boy” JJ said.

“You okay?” Kie asked once he saw him coughing and struggling to get on the boat. 

“Yeah, I ran out of air” the brunette responded. 

“You scared the shit out of me” Kie said. John B chuckled.

“Bet it did” you whispered in her ear, making her punch you slightly in the stomach. “Ow” you laughed, grabbing your stomach.

“Yeah, the cops were up here but uh… we took care of them” Pope said.

“You almost shit your pants, Pope” you snorted. He glared at you.

“Yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother” JJ said, fixing his cap and tinkering around with the tanks and the scuba gear. 

You looked at the back of the boat, trying to check the sun setting, but instead you saw another boat coming to yours. Weird, the’re weren’t any boats near, except the police ones. It didn’t look familiar and it gave you the creeps.

“Hey! Guys, guys! Bogey, two o‘clock” you said, bringing your hand up, motioning them to come over where you were standing.

“What? JJ said approaching over to where you were. 

“Do you recognize that boat?” Pope asked. 

“Never seen it” you shook your head. “What are they doing?” you asked, panicking a little.

“Yeah, the marsh is closed” Kie said, just as confused as everyone was.

“I don’t know but let’s not stick and find out” You said.

“JJ get the bowline,” John B said. JJ quickly ran to the end of the boat to do was he was told.

“Should we wait on’em?” Pope asked.

“No, we’re not” John B said. 

“Here, let me help” you said, helping the blonde who was getting the bowline. 

“Hey hurry up” Kie said.

“Guys! Don’t wait for us, let’s go” JJ said. You tried to get it faster, but JJ was kinda doing all the work.

“I don’t like this” you said, wiping your hands on your towel.

“Are they coming for us?” the blonde asked.

“Maybe they’re fishing” Pope said.

“Go, go, go ,go!” JJ yelled. You started to panic once again, your breathing becoming erratic. 

“Just act fucking natural” You said, trying to calm yourself down. You noticed the guys were following you. “Uh… guys, they’re following us” 

“This can’t be good” Pope said.

John B accelerated making you stumble a little, grabbing JJ’s arm. He grabbed you, arm around your waist. 

“Dude, you gotta go faster,” he yelled at him.

“I’m going!” he yelled back, nervous too.

They suddenly pulled a gun, and a shot fired. You yelped when you felt a hand on your neck, pulling you down with him.

You noticed it was JJ, he was securing you with his whole body. 

“Holy shit!” you cried, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“John B, get down!” JJ yelled.

Another one was fired, and JJ basically threw himself over you, his arms around you tightened. 

“Oh my God, we’re gonna die” Pope said.

You got an idea, you tried to move from JJ’s body but he didn’t let you.

“What are you doing?” he yelled.

“Move!” you yelled back. He sighed and lifted his arm, you stood up slightly and went to the end of the boat. 

You grabbed a fishing net that was on the floor and you struggled to untangle it. One more shot was fired and JJ grabbed your leg, pulling you down. 

“Are you crazy! Get down, Y/N!” he yelled at you.

You threw the net to the water, and you saw how the net went straight to their boat, the engine making a stop. Their boat got stuck with the net and they couldn’t move. The man shot a few more bullets, missing them. 

You dropped your hands up in the air, a sign of relief. 

JJ came over you and hugged you. He sighed and kissed the side of your head. 

“You’re amazing, but don’t do that ever again!” he said, pulling away and then hugging you again. You laughed and hugged him back.

Everyone whooped at you, celebrating that they got away from the two creepy men. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You arrived at the dock in John B’s house and dropped the things that you got from the sunken boat. John B searched inside the bag, trying to find something big.

“What do you guys think it is?” Kie asked.

“Gotta be money or something, right?” John B replied.

“That or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to mid-mills” JJ laughed.

“Can we please just open the bag!” Pope said desperately. 

You snorted, “Woah Pope. That’s a rare outburst of emotion” you said, JJ beside you chuckled.

He sighed. “Okay, you guys are literally killing me with anticipation, open the bag”

“Jeez” John B said.

“We almost died over this” Pope said, rather annoyed.

John B took out a large metal tube, you all waited for something really valuable to appear, like money or gold. He opened it… and inside there was just a compass. It looked rather old and it was all rusty and it didn’t look valuable at all. 

You huffed propping yourself up straight. 

“That went well” you snorted sarcastically.

“Oh, wow, yup. That’s about right. Good job everybody, we found a compass” Pope said.

You notice the change of demeanor of John B. He looked at it like it was a sick lost puppy. Your eyebrows furrowed and you inspected his face. 

JJ took off his cap. “Dude what? It’s not worth anything”

“J…” you said, gesturing to him to look at his face. “What is it?” you asked, putting a hand on your brother’s shoulder.

“This was my father’s” he said, a little laugh escaping his lips.

Everybody looked at it shocked as hell. What the hell was Scooter Grubbs with Big John’s compass?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Tell me what you think in the comments.
> 
> Ps: as you may have noticed, every chapter was named after a song. You can guess from which artist in the comments!


	4. Walk On The Wild Side

“I’m just saying, I don’t understand why you don’t at least try it with Kiara. She clearly likes you. She’s like ‘oh John B” JJ moaned, mimicking Kiara. 

“Is that what she does?” John B asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

“She’s sketching you about you diving, then she kissed you” JJ said. 

“She kissed me on the cheek. Also, don’t pretend you wouldn’t die to do the same to Y/N” John B smirked at the blonde. 

JJ sat up straight. “Okay, me and Y/N are a very different page. You actually have a shot with her. Y/N and I… we flirt a lot and shit, believe me, I’m aware, but she clearly doesn’t want anything with me” he said, and sighed. “Plus, she’s really hot- but anyways, back to your case, don’t pretend you don’t notice, I see it in your eyes” he said. “You’re like, ‘I kinda like that’, and you start blushing”

“Oh, I blush? Isn’t that what  _ you  _ do when Y/N’s in a bikini? You don’t blush? You keep picturing her naked, aren’t you?” John B said elbowing his arm. “I can practically hear you moan every time” 

“I’m not denying anything. Have you seen her?” JJ said, sighing, dreamily.

John B snorted. “Okay, calm down. That’s my sister you’re talking about” he said, kind of disgusted.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the compass.

“Hey! Don’t” John B said, trying to take it back from JJ’s hands.

JJ pulled back. “I’m just looking at it. I gotta admit, your father’s compass in Scooter’s boat. That’s freaky”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re going to talk to Ms. Lana, figure this whole thing out” John B said, pressing the accelerator. 

“I’m sure she would just love to talk to us, it’s not like her husband just drowned or anything” JJ said sarcastically, playing with the gold chain the compass had. 

They sped off to Ms. Lana’s house without a clue of what was going to happen next.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“And we were right outside like this,” JJ said, once they got back from Ms. Lana.

They were telling a story that apparently the same guys that tried to shoot the five of you, were in Ms. Lana’s house, trying to get the compass from her. He told all of you how you found her in the middle of the mess they had made of her house, crying and hurt.

“And all we hear is, Bam! Bam! Bam!” JJ said a little exaggerated. “Knocking paint off the wall, G! From the inside. Alright? And I’m just looking at him, like-- wait, first off, look at this shit” he said combing his fingers through his hair, paint falling to your thighs.

“Oh, J. Come on” you said, wiping the white dust off your legs. 

“That’s dandruff” Kie said disgustedly.

You gasped, wiping it more roughly. “Ugh, seriously? Disgusting!”

“Okay, thank you” Pope said sarcastically.

“Look at all that, all right?” he said, yelling. “That’s paint. At that point, I was just like… I’m waiting for death” he said dramatically.

“Dude, have you always been this dramatic?” Kie asked, looking at him and then at you. 

“Oh yeah” you said, nodding your head, eyebrows raised.

“Oh, okay, so you saw the guys that shot at us, right?” Pope asked and JJ nodded. “Did you get a good description of them?”

“What did they look like?” you asked.

“Yeah, anything” Kie added.

“Anything we can bring we can bring to a police report” you said.

“Burly” JJ said seconds later of thinking.

“Burly? That’s all you got?” you deadpanned.

“That’s not very helpful” Kiara said.

“Okay, well, no, like the type of guy at my dad’s garage” he responded. “I mean, you guys know he made cargo hides for drug smugglers” 

“Yeah, yes, we know” you said softly, knowing his dad was a sore subject.

“I can tell you with full confidence, these boys, these killers-” he said before he took a drag of his juul, before puffing it out. “They’re square groupers”

You took the juul from his hands, taking a drag, handing him back the small object. 

“They’re square groupers, like narco square groupers?” Pope asked. “Like Pablo Escobar square groupers?”

“Yeah man” he said, calming himself down.

“You guys, everything’s not a kingpin movie” Kie said, shaking his head.

“Okay, so what does this square grouper look like, specifically?” Pope asked.

“You weren’t there” he said, raising his voice. 

“You don’t know what you’re looking for!” Pope yelled at the blonde.

“Dude! I wasn’t taking little mental Polaroids the entire time. Man, I was under duress, okay?” he said. He grabbed his hair, combing it right. “But I can tell you… I can tell you by the way Ms. Lana was screaming, that these guys are serious, serious  _ hombres  _ man” 

You saw John B opening his dad’s compass, looking at the inside of it. 

“It’s a heavy vibe right now” JJ continued. “I’m not liking this very much”

“But why would they want the compass?” you asked, not understanding this whole situation. “I mean there’s history behind that? Is it valuable?” 

“I think it’s a piece of shit” Pope said.

“Pope-” you said, but he interrupted you.

“You could pawn it off for 5 bucks if you wanted to” he said. 

You rolled your eyes, rubbing your forehead. 

“No offense, I know it’s in your family--” Pope started but John B interrupted.

“The office” John B said suddenly.

Everyone’s eyebrows furrowed, confused at what he was talking about.

“What?” Pope asked confusedly.

“My dad. My dad’s office” he said. “He always kept the office locked because he was worried his competitors stealing his Royal Merchant research. We used to laugh at him with Y/N when we were kids, like he was actually going to find it, but now that he’s gone I’ve just kinda… I just left it as he kept it ” 

“For when he gets back” you said, putting a hand on his back. He nodded at you.

“Yeah, for when he gets back” Kie repeated.You smiled at the girl, shooting a look at Pope and JJ to not say anything and go along with it.

John B unlocked the padlock that was securing the door. He opened it and took a peek inside. 

“Oh, I’ve slept over here like 600 times and I’ve never seen this door opened” Pope said.

“Imagine, me neither” you said. You obviously were the one who knew John B the most and longer.

“Here, look” John B said, grabbing a cork board that had images and notes pinned on them. You noticed it explained the story of the compass. “This-” he pointed at a man in a picture, “is the original owner, right here”

“Robert Q. Routledge” you read, “1880 to 1920, there’s the lucky compass”

“Right there” Kie pointed at the picture, at the man that had the compass right in his hand.

John B pursed his lips. “Actually uh… he was shot right after he bought it, then the compass was shipped back to Henry. Henry was killed in a crop-dusting accident when he had the compass. After he died, the compass was given to Stephen. He had the compass with him when he died in Vietnam”

“Let me guess, he died in action, right?” JJ asked.

“Sort of. Uh, actually… he was killed by a banana truck. In-- in country. Anyways, after that, Stephen, passed the compass down to him, my dad”

You looked at the picture of him when he was a little kid, smiling softly. “Hm, sounds like there’s a reocurring theme right here” JJ said.

“Yeah, you have a death compass,” Pope said.

“No, I do not” John B protested.

“You have a death compass” Pope repeated to him.

“Get rid of it” JJ said.

“Look, my dad used to talk about this compartment here in here-” he said, sitting down to take out a piece of the compass, “Soldiers used to hide secret notes”

You looked at the letter written on the compass. “Whoa, what’s that?“

“That wasn’t there before” John B said, confused. “This is my dad’s handwriting”

You snorted. “How can you know that?” you asked.

“Because he does this weird ‘R’s with the-- see it?” he asked, pointing at the letters written on the compass, and you noticed that there was, in fact, a weird written ‘R’.

”Can I see it?” JJ asked, he handed the blonde the compass, you tried to peek over his shoulder. “Red- Rout-”

“It says Redfield” You said over his shoulder.

“Right” he said, looking at you sheepishly. 

“Okay, well, what’s Redfield” Kie asked.

“The most common name in the county” you said, putting your hands on the desk. 

“Or, maybe-maybe it’s a clue” John B said hopefully. “Maybe it’s a clue to where he’s hiding”

“Okay… a clue? Come on that’s--” Pope said but you interrupted him with a look that said _ don’t start.  _ He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “But if it’s a clue, maybe it’s… an anagram?”

“Yes. Anagram, perfect, you need paper. Here you go” he said, handing it to Pope.

The rooster crowing made it impossible to concentrate. 

“How can you concentrate with that thing crowing at you?” Pope said.

“JJ loves the rooster” you said.

“ _ I _ love the rooster” Kie said. 

You and the guys started saying things to guess whatever this ‘anagram’ was. John B was focused on the window, God-knows why. Suddenly he stood up, abruptly.

“Guys! Guys! There’s someone here” he said, motioning them to come over and take a look out the window.

You all walked to the window and watched the large big black truck parked at the side of the Chateau. Two guys came out of it, looking like gangsters.

“Is that them?” you asked panicking again.

“Oh shit” Pope cursed.

“John B, I told you, why does it always--” JJ said, panicking as well.

“JJ! Look at me” John b said grabbing his friend by the shoulders, shaking him a little bit.

“Where’s the gun?” You asked him, coming near him.

“The gun, I… i can’t” he started.

Kie huffed. “Now you don’t have the gun, the one time we need the gun?” 

“It was in my backpack and then I-” JJ started thinking.

“On the porch” John B said. “It’s on the porch”

“I’ll go get it” you said coming over to the door but JJ stopped you.

“No, no, no, no” JJ said quickly, grabbing your arm. “I’ll go”

He tiptoed through the house trying to get to the porch unseen. Suddenly the guys yelled ‘John B Routledge!’ and JJ almost slipped, running to the room again. 

“The gun?” you asked.

“They’re on the front porch guys” he said.

You let out a sob, trying to muffle it with your hand. 

“Routledge!” you heard.

“We gotta leave” John B said, frantically looking for a place to escape or hide.

“Window. Window!” You said unable to form a coherent sentence.

The noises the guys were making could be heard from the door and it made you even more scared than you already were. You could imagine they were messing his whole place up by the crashing and kicking.

“Where you at, boy?” they continued asking. 

“Hurry!” you said.

“What’s happening? What’s taking so long?” Kie said.

“It’s painted shut, okay?” JJ said.

John B stood guarding the door, grabbing his head.You searched for something sharp to cut the paint. You found a little knife and you handed it to Pope. “Guys, here”

Kie grabbed it and started cutting the paint. Steps close to the door were getting more and more louder. The handle started moving and you gasped, a hand coming to cover your mouth. You realized it was JJ’s. 

“You better not be in there!” he said. 

He started kicking the door, and you cried now. You shoved everyone who was trying to get the window opened, you lifted with every single ounce of force you had and it lifted. Sighing everyone started getting through the window. You paralyzed but JJ grabbed you and pulled you with him. Then, the only place they could find to hide was the rooster’s coop. It smelled like shit but it was the only place that these guys wouldn’t find all of you.

You saw how they were grabbing stuff from John B’s dad’s office, taking it out of the Chateau in boxes, putting them in the trunk of their black car. 

The rooster started crowing loudly and you let out a shaky breath. The animal started flying all over, the wings kicking you in the face.

“Do something, Pope, shut him up” JJ said.

“JJ please, shut up” you said, scared as hell. He sighed and put his arm over your shoulder, your head falling back on his shoulder. It calmed you down.

“What do you want me to do?” Pope asked.

“Pet him, talk to him, I don’t know” Kie encouraged, crying. 

The guy suddenly turned around and your breath caught in your throat. You cried silently, trying to calm down, the tears running down your cheeks.

The rooster suddenly started flying around the coop and JJ grabbed it by the neck. He put it against the ground and put pressure on him. Suddenly, the awful noise of bones cracking filled your ears. You gasped, covering your mouth. Kie sobbed softly and John B sat watching the now lifeless rooster on the ground. 

JJ saw your face, that was clouded in fear and sighed, eyes filling with tears. When they finally left, you sighed, wiping your face and getting out of the coop like everyone else.

JJ had a sad expression on his face, the guilt very clear on his expressions.

You stopped, grabbing his hands to link your fingers with his, and continued walking. “Hey, you okay?” you asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, I feel guilty about…” he said, referring to the dead rooster laying in the coop now. “Seeing Kie’s face, your face” he sighed.

“I know how much you loved it” you said softly, your thumb running over his fingers. “Don’t worry, you saved us all. If it wasn’t for you those guys would’ve skinned us alive” you laughed, making him laugh too.

He looked at you and threw an arm around your shoulders, bringing you close to him. “Thank you, Y/N” he said sincerely.

You smiled, and wrapped your arms around his torso, walking inside the Chateau.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Tell me what you think in the comments.


	5. Heaven Knows

You were all in John B’s van. They were going to this lighthouse that John B said it had the ‘Redfield’ clue, and everybody knew that when he had something in his mind, he wouldn't stop til it was cleared out.

“I mean it’s obvious right?” he asked. “A family heirloom. What a better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?” he explained. 

“Yeah, it’s uh, it's possible” you said, nodding. 

“It could also be possible that you’re concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels” Pope said, from the backseat. 

You punched him in the head slightly. He rubbed the back of his head, looking at you and pouting. 

“Bro? You know how I process my sad feels?” JJ started. You rolled your eyes and brushed a hand over your face. 

“Let me guess, weed?” you tried.

“Dark nugs and stickiest of ickies” he said, smirking and proud of himself. You laughed at his words. Typical JJ. “That’s how I do it” he shrugged. 

“Yeah we’re well aware of it, J” you smiled at him, sarcastically.

“I’m not concocting, okay? My dad’s trying to give me a message” John B said. You looked at him with a sad expression. You took pity on your best friend, you knew deep down that his dad was dead, and chasing for him was just pointless, stupid even.

“If it helps you, John B” Kie, that was sitting next to him, said.

“Look, I-I don’t need a therapy session, okay? Look, I’m not tripping out” John B tried to convince all of you.

“We know you’re not” you said, reassuringly. 

“It’s okay to trip, bro-” JJ tried to say but John B cut him out. 

“Look, my-- my dad’s missing, okay,  _ missing _ ” he clarified for all of you. He was too stubborn for his own good. Nothing that you or anybody on the van said was going to change his mind. You locked eyes with JJ and you shook your head, as if in  _ leave it, he won’t drop it _ . “You don’t know what it’s like to have the person closest to you to vanish… and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering” he said sadly. You nodded, understanding his pain. 

You locked eyes with Kie and sighed. “JB, it’s been almost a year” you said. “I get it, it’s been hard but..” you trailed off, not knowing what to say. He looked at you on the rear view mirror, his eyes glassy. “Don’t you think it’s time to just… let it go?”

He just shook his head, looking out the window. You sighed and looked at JJ who was about to open his mouth. 

“Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That’s definitely a possibility” JJ said, in an attempt to cheer him up, failing miserably.

“Yeah he could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere” Pope joined.

“Absolutely, uh… or Atlantis” JJ tried.

“JJ” you said sternly, shutting him up. He raised his hands in the air.

“Look, what do you think the message is?” Kie asked. 

“Redfield” he said, as he sped off, a big sign that read:  _ Redfield Lighthouse _ . Also it said that it was closed due to the hurricane that hit OBX days ago but Pogues never followed rules. “Redfield lighthouse, my dad’s favorite place”

They all got out of the van once they reached the entrance of the large lighthouse, you did notice how JJ offered his hand for you to take as you stepped out of the van. Pope closed the van and you stood next to John B, who was inspecting the place. 

“Right, so you’re gonna post up, look out for bogeys, all right?” John B said looking at JJ. 

“Wait… why me?” he asked like a child. 

“Because you’re not coming” Pope argued, looking at him, stating it like it was obvious.

“Why?” he argued. 

“There are independent and dependent variables. You’re independent, we don’t know what you’ll do” he said. You couldn’t help the snort leaving your lips. 

“Shut up!” he yelled at Pope. “No, shut up” he continued to argue with him.

“Listen for me for a second!” John B yelled.

You sighed. “This is too much testosterone for me to handle right now” you said, and Kie laughed.

“Pope, you stand look out for JJ, okay? You, Y/N, be like a mother okay. Make sure these two don’t kill each other, please?” he said, pouting.

“Fine” you said smiling. “I do it every time so, nothing new”

“Wait, you leave me with flirty couple?” he said pointing at you and JJ, the two of you looking at each other. JJ shrugged his shoulders. “They spend hours flirting back and forth and they get on my nerves”

“Hey!” JJ said, offended. “It’s not my fault she’s hot”

“See!” Pope cried. 

“If we get split up, we meet at JJ’s house” John B decided, rolling his eyes.

“Great” Kie said. 

Kie and John B went to the lighthouse and Pope went back to the van, grabbing a pen from his back pocket. “I’m gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, and I’m trying to keep felonies to a minimum”

JJ took out a happy sack out of his pocket, and started kicking it around. “Would you just shut up already?” you said. 

“All right. If you’re gonna make out, or… I don’t wanna know, please do it far away from where I’m standing” 

“You heard him baby” JJ said, winking at you.

You rolled your eyes and took out the happy sack from his hands. 

“Wanna play, handsome?” you winked back, making him grin. 

Pope huffed. “This is what I was talking about,” he said, a hand wiping his face. 

You and JJ started playing with the happy sack, kicking it back and forth. Pope joined in later and JJ did a trick of catching it inside his pocket. Suddenly the police siren was heard.

“Ah shit” you cursed getting inside of the van. 

“The cops” Pope said, running to the van. 

JJ started the engine and you saw John B and Kiara getting out of the lighthouse running. 

“Wait, what about them?” you pointed at your friends who stood there watching how the vehicle was exiting the lighthouse area. 

“Shit, we’ll get him later” JJ said looking through the rearview mirror. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You waited for them at the Chateau but only Kie showed up. JJ and Pope were in the kitchen, so you took advantage of the alone time with Kiara. 

“So, you guys found something?” you asked her. She sat down sighing and wiping her hands on her face, you took it as a bad sign. 

“Well, no. We found this old creepy dude, who John B ‘accidentally’ assaulted-”

“Assaulted?” you asked, shocked. 

“Yeah” she laughed. 

“That’s a new one” you said, putting your legs on the coffee table of the porch.

“I know. Well anyways, the guy called the cops cause JB had the stupid idea of asking him about the compass and shit. And then we got out of the lighthouse, we ran and he stopped to talk to me. And then out of nowhere he kissed me” she said.

“He what?!” you yelled, almost dropping your own beer. 

“Shhh!” she shushed you.

You laughed. “Ha! That’s a new one, told ya he had feelings for you” 

Kie rolled her eyes and sighed. “It felt wrong. I don’t know, I don’t have feelings for him, Y/N. But he looked so embarrassed and I don’t want him to feel that” 

You nodded. “Well, he’s a dumbass. Kissing you out of nowhere? God, guys are clueless sometimes” 

She nodded.

“Did something happen with… you know who?” Kie asked you.

You looked inside the Chateau and found JJ chugging a beer. “Nah, it didn’t” you said. “But today he flirted like… next level. Pope said something about us sleeping together like ‘if you’re gonna make out or… you know, do it far away’ and he goes ‘you heard him baby’” you said biting your lip, smiling a little. 

Kie squealed. “What does that mean?”

“I honestly have no idea” you responded. “Boys are complicated, and weird”

Kie nodded along with you. “I second that”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You then found yourself at the usual place where JJ and you went to smoke. Pope decided to tag along and when you were in the middle of an expertly rolled up blunt (courtesy of JJ), John B pulled up.

“Let’s ride” JJ said throwing the blunt on the ground, stepping on it.

“This better be good.” you said, climbing inside the van. 

You rode to The Wreck, the restaurant that Kie’s parents owned and Kie worked. Pope went to look for her and came back, no Kiara on sight.

“She said she’s not coming,” he said.

“Why not?” JJ asked. “What’d you do to her, John B?”

“Shit” he cursed. “Hang on, I’ll deal with it”

Pope climbed back on the van. “You know what happened between those two?” he asked JJ. 

He shook his head and turned to you. You were looking out the window pretending you didn’t know anything. “Y/N you know something” Pope stated.

“Uh, no” you said, trying to appeal nonchalant.

“Babe…” JJ digged.

You sighed. “Fine, he kissed her”

“He what?” the two asked at the same time. 

You got closer to them and shushed them. “I don’t know alright, she just told me that. She didn't like it” 

JJ nodded. “Well, it’s kinda my fault, I told him to pursue it”

“JJ!” you hit his shoulder. “Kie’s a woman, not an object to ‘pursue’” you said angrily.

“Jeez, Y/N relax” JJ said. “I know Kie’s a woman”

“Sure seems like it” you muttered and sat back looking out the window. You didn’t know why you were angry with him. Maybe the thought that you and him could never be together made you angry and so you took it out on him. He looked at you furrowing his eyebrows. He looked at Pope who shrugged his shoulders as in  _ no idea what’s up with her _ . Kie then got into the car and they sped off to Godknows where. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The night fell when the five of you were making their way to the Cemetery. 

“You mind if I just relax on this one?” JJ asked from the backseat. “It’s been a long day, and a lot of weird stuff’s gone down, I’m just gonna lay low, oh did you want a hit of this?” he asked to you.

“Oh, I do” you replied.

“I keep the sign clear” Pope said. 

“I wasn’t asking you but okay, you understand that your problem is that you don’t get creative? If you got creative-” JJ started. 

“Look, I-- I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, all right?” John B said, interrupting him, “And wrong about everything else going on, but I-- I was right about one thing, okay? My dad is trying to tell me something”

You stopped when you reached the inside of the cemetery, and got out of the van. It was really cold and you hadn’t brought a jacket.

“Come on” John B said.

“Ugh shit, it’s freezing” you cursed. 

“Hey, come on” John B said impatiently.

Kie huffed. “We’re coming, this place is scary”

You sighed, running your hands up and down your arm trying to warm yourself up. “John B what are we doing” you asked, your teeth almost clinking from the cold. “We came to a cemetery? What kind of level of craziness have you reached today?”

John B ignored your comment and continued walking. “You know how you’re trying to remember a song and can’t remember who sings it?“ he asked.

“Kinda?” you said, but you really didn’t understand the whole point of this.

“So, Redfield. This whole time, I thought it was a place, right? But it’s not a place” he said, walking down to a big mausoleum, lighting with his lamp. “It’s a person”

“Voi-effing-la” JJ said.

“See, my great-great-grandmother, Olivia Redfield. That was her maiden name” he said.

“Wow” you whispered. 

You all stood watching the big door of it. “Help me with the door, come on” 

They tried to open the door while you stood watching something in the door. You couldn’t really figure out what it was but you just stood there watching.

“A little help, Y/N?” John B asked.

You sighed, “I’m coming” going to push the door. 

The door was heavy as hell, and the five of you really couldn’t move the big ass door. “Are we really trying to move a one-ton-weighted ass door?“ you asked.

“Just keep pushing” John B said.

“I’m pushing!” Pope said grunting.

“I’m going” JJ said, pushing even more.

Pope sighed. “Y/N’s right. This door is like 700 pounds, it’s not gonna budge” he said, still pushing the door. 

“We didn’t come this far to get this far, all right?” JJ said. “We got--”

JJ got interrupted by a snake hissing. 

You yelped and went to hide behind JJ who pushed you behind him instantly. “That’s a moccasin alright? Ye olde Dr. Cottonmouth” he said and then started barking at the snake.

“JJ, stop!” you yelled at him. “Shut up, are you crazy?”

“You’re gonna wake the dead man!” Pope said. 

“They’re afraid of dogs! Everybody knows that” he said. You just pushed him, but he held you close. “Wait, hold on” he said, 

“What?” you asked him.

“If there’s one, there’s probably dozens” he said to all of you, but you were the one under his arm, so. “All around” he said, rubbing the soft skin of your uncovered stomach, butterflies fluttering in your body. 

“Stop, you’re scaring me” Kie whimpered.

JJ continued barking and you elbowed him. “JJ stop barking at the stupid snakes!” you hissed at him. 

“Just making sure it’s clear” he defended himself.

“Shut up, John, look-” Pope started, “we’re not gonna get in there, okay? It’s not budging. We should probably just go” he said.

You looked at the door again and found a missing piece of the door, one of you could perfectly fit in there. 

“I can get through” you suddenly said.

“What?” John B asked.

“Yeah, what?” JJ asked, the arm around you tightening. 

“No, no, no. You think you’re gonna fit through the hole? That hole?” he asked.

“Look, this is about your dad,” you said turning your head to him. He looked at you, a soft expression on his face. “And honestly I really don’t believe it but you deserve to know the truth, also I’m the smallest from all of us” you said. “I’ll do it” 

JJ hesitantly let you go and he offered himself to lift you up to the hole. First, you cleared the door, taking off those awfully-looking branches that covered the hole. Once they were out of the way, JJ put himself against the wall, ready to lift you up. 

“I’m gonna boost you, all right? Be careful” he said, looking into your eyes. “Ready?”

“Born ready” you smirked. 

You walked to him and when you reached where he was, he noticed your chest was at the same level as his eyes and he whistled.

“This is what heaven looks like” he said, and as a response, you smacked him in the head, “Ow”

“Remind me what we’re looking for?“ you said to John B. 

He stood thinking. “You’ll know when you see it” he replied. 

You stood watching him, his eyes not leaving the door. You nodded and handed Pope the flashlight.

“All right, so you put your hands there” he gestured to you. “Your foot, there- great. All right, on three- okay never mind, just forget about three” he said, once you stepped on his hand, boosting you up to get through the hole in the door, you didn’t even wait for him to start counting. 

“I got it“ you said, once you got inside the door. “Okay, flashlight?” you said stretching your hand out of the hole.

Pope handed you the flashlight and you started searching inside the mausoleum. 

“You alive?” you heard John B’s voice through the thick wall of the door. “You got like a-- like a heartbeat and everything?”

“So far” you said, still looking inside. 

“That’s good, babe” JJ replied.

”I need some more light” you said.

You saw Kie holding her lamp for you. You got it and thanked her by sending her a smile. You saw something on the wall and you kept staring at it.

“Did you find something?” JJ asked. “Is there gold?”

“Oh my God” you whispered.

You said taking out a fed-ex pack from the wall. You grabbed it and passed it to John B. 

“That’s not gold,” Pope said disappointedly. You got out of the mausoleum, with help from JJ and you heard John B mutter.

“Holy shit” he said, looking at the envelope. “This is from my dad” he said.

JJ had lit up a blunt, and you waited for him to share but you heard the cops and you turned to tell John B. “Code red!”

“Code red, Square groupers, square groupers” JJ said frantically. “It’s the guys who robbed your house“ he said. 

You hid behind the mausoleum and you tried desperately to turn off your flashlight. JJ was with his still on and you turned it off.

“Lights off!” you said. 

“John B, your light!” Kie said desperately. “You think it’s them?”

You and JJ peeked at the car and you saw two men get out of it. 

“Homie’s got a gun” he said. 

“Screw this” you said standing up and running. 

“Y/N!” JJ said, but he followed you, all running to get to the van as fast as they could. You weren’t as fast as them, and you got tired, so JJ grabbed you and swinged you over his shoulder. “Gotcha”

“JJ” you whispered, hitting his back gently. 

He helped you over the gate, while the others did the same. Pope got his pocket stuck in the metal fence. “Guys, I’m stuck“

“Shit, Pope, come on dude” you said.

Kie and John B went to help him. “We got you”

JJ had his gun with you and you gasped. “Pope, don’t move” he said, but you grabbed his gun, pulling it down. 

“You’re gonna rip me” pope cried. 

“Get that gun down” you said, you two fighting to see who was going to grab it. 

Pope finally ripped the pants leaving himself in underwear. “Nice, come on dude” JJ said. “It’s a little Tootsie Roll” making Kie laugh.

“Come on, get in” you said laughing.

John B started the van and drove away from the cemetery. What you guys didn’t know is that it wasn’t the guys that tried to shoot you. Just the cemetery cleaners. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think in the comments! Thank you for reading!


	6. Jawbreaker

“That bread had mold on it three days ago” you told JJ who was making himself a sandwich, back in the Chateau. He put peanut butter in it, and put the two pieces of bread together. It didn’t look good. At all. It looked more like mold than bread, all greeny and disgusting, it also smelled bad. “Ugh, you’re seriously gonna eat that?” you said, pulling a disgusted face on.

“I’ll just pull off the bad parts” he replied. “Plus, mold is good for you. It’s a natural organism” he invented. You nodded laughing. 

“You’re hot when you talk like that,” you said, smirking at him. 

”I know” he winked right at you. 

You were about to flirt something back but Kie interrupted you. “Guys!” she said. “It’s not the time for Romeo and Juliet” she groaned. 

You walked to the table and stood beside John B. “Let’s open that package” you said, clapping your hands together, excited that you were going to do this and John B could at least take a look at the message his father sent him.

“Hot damn, let’s do it” JJ said, approaching the table where all of you sat. You heard him take a bit of the awful-looking sandwich, and then gag. He threw the chewed bread on his hand and threw it to the bin. 

“What did I tell you? Can you actually listen to me, just once?” you said to him. He just tried to continue to eat his sandwich but it was pointless, the bread was completely ruined, and green. 

The package contained a map. So John B grabbed it and placed it on the table to inspect it. “Holy shit” he muttered. You tried to follow whatever they were pointing at but in reality you didn’t understand shit. 

“Oh, X marks the spot” Pope chimed in, pointing at a random X marked in the map. 

“Longitude, latitude” John B continued. “Wait there’s something else in there.” he took out of the fed-ex package a very old recorder.

“What’s that?” JJ asked. 

“It’s a tape recorder, dumbass” you said and he slapped your ass, making you giggle. 

“Guys!” Pope whispered, shushing you. You tried to concentrate as John B pressed the button that said play. 

“ _ Dear bird-- _ ” the man in the recording started. You gasped, knowing whose voice that was. 

“Who’s bird?” JJ asked. 

“That’s what my dad called me” John B said. 

_ “I hate to say, ‘I told you so’ but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment, you’re filled with guilt and self-loathing over our last fight, but don’t kill yourself just yet, kid”  _ his father went on. “ _ I didn’t expect to find the Merchant either”  _

Your eyes widened, looking at JJ who looked as surprised as you. Kie and Pope looked surprised too, and you shared looks with them. 

_ “You were probably right to call me out. Wasn't exactly Father of The Decade. What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn”  _ he sighed. “ _ And hopefully, we’re listening to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, livin’ off passive investments and pulling on permits. If not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that’s what the map is for- There she is, the wreck of the Merchant” _

You continued to listen to it, watching how John B’s eyes started to water. You pursed your lips trying to contain the tears threatening to spill from your eyes. You were also trying not to gasp at the thing he had just revealed. He had found the Royal Merchant, the big ass boat that everyone wanted to catch, the one that had a fortune inside. 

_ “If something happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold, kid”  _ he said. “ _ I love you, Bird. even if I didn’t always act like it… I’ll see you on the other side”  _ and then the tape finished. John B sat there, gripping the recorder and looking at it, totally broken. Then he stood up and walked to the frame of the door, and broke in tears, sobbing against the wall. You wiped your own eyes with the tears that already formed in them. 

“Holy shit, he did it!” JJ cried, “Big John- he found the Merchant” he said.

“Can you… can you please?“ you asked, pointing at the brunette crying in a corner. 

“Sorry” he apologized quietly. 

You walked over to John B, your brother. He sobbed against the frame and when he felt your warm hand, he turned around, crashing his body to yours. Your own tears started to fall, Big John was like a father to you, and you kind of felt the same sadness inside of you. You sighed, rubbing his hand up and down, trying to soothe him. “It’s okay, I got you” you tried. John B had always been there for you, when you found out what your ‘father’ did with your mom, and you always asked yourself, what was wrong with you; but he always got your back, telling you it wasn’t your fault, obviously. You continued to calm your friends' cries, and sighed, praying that all this research and getting into trouble was going to get it somewhere. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You eventually moved to the dock, all sitting there, listening to Kie play her ukulele softly. You sat on the edges of the fence that the dock had, JJ came to sit beside you, all five of you with a newly opened beer in hand. 

“How much was it again?” he asked, sitting up on the wood of the dock. 

“Four hundred mill” you replied, not even able to believe it yourself. 

“All right, let’s talk the split” he started. “Now, before you say ‘evenly’, may I remind you that I am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us. Protection? No cheap, okay?” he tried to reason. 

“You think forgetting a gun on the front porch is protecting us, JJ?” you asked, irony laced in your tone. 

“You haven’t trained” Pope said. “You’ve done zero training”

  
“Youtube, bro. That’s at least 5% bump right there” JJ exclaimed. 

“You havent-” Pope tried to say but JJ cut him off. 

“Any objections? didn’t think so” JJ said, shaking his head.

“What are you gonna do with your money, Pope?” Kie asked, changing the subject. 

He thought a little before talking. “Pay for college in advance, and also textbooks. Those are expensive” he said. 

“What about you, Y/N?” JJ asked.

You sighed, “that’s an easy one. Move to Hawaii maybe. Always dreamed of surfing there. The air, the people, everything. That’s the place of my dreams” you responded. “Don’t know what job I could get but-”

“You could be an insta model” JJ offered, smirking. “Take advantage of this-” he said pointing to your body. 

You rolled your eyes, smirking a little at the comment. 

“Yeah but that’s it. And bring my mom too” you said softly, earning smiles from your friends. You loved your mother more than anything in the world. “She’s been through enough, and I feel like moving to another place, where we don’t have to worry about money, is what… I owe her, you know? She deserves it” you explained.

“Sounds fair,” JJ said, smiling at you, and you nodded at him. 

“What about you, Kie?” you asked your friend, then taking a sip of your beer. 

Pope looked at the girl. “Yeah, what does a socialist do when she’s rich?“ he asked, smirking at the girl. 

Kie chuckled. “Just wanna make a double album” she responded simply, “About OBX, the pogues” you smiled at her, it has always been her dream to make an album. “You know the way  _ Catch a Fire  _ is about Kingston. Record it in  _ Marley Studio _ . Peter Tosh producing” she said, a smile adorning her face. 

“Peter Tosh is dead-”

“Peter Tosh is dead” Kie said, talking at the same time as Pope. “I know. Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die” she said, and you nodded. 

“What about you, J?” you asked, looking over your shoulder.

“Actually I know what I’ll do,” he said. “I’m gonna get a big ass house on Figure 8 and go full kook” he said, that made you snort. 

“You’re gonna go full kook?“ you asked him. 

“Yeah” he responded, smirking. “Gonna get a marble statue of myself, and then I’m gonna get a koi pond, put a bunch of fish-”

“I’m never visiting” Kie said.

“Oh, I will. Wanna look what that marble statue looks like” You laughed, making everyone laugh too. 

“What are you gonna do, JB?” Pope asked.

He sat silently, looking out at the water, thinking. “To going full kook” he said, a little smile playing on his lips.

You smiled and held your can of beer up. “To going full kook” you agreed. 

The five clinked their beers together laughing. 

The five of you returned to the Chateau and you decided to call it a night. Pope and Kie returned to their houses and John B, JJ and you stayed right there.

“You guys are settling in on the guest room?” John B asked, brushing his teeth.

“Yup, same as always” you responded, getting inside of the room, closing the door to change to your PJ’s. 

JJ was waiting outside, rubbing his face from the tiredness he felt. John B came over to stand by him.

He sighed and put a hand on his friends’ shoulder. “If you’re gonna do _it_ , please be quiet. For the love of God” he said, a serious expression on his face.

JJ laughed. “Well, I hope so. But I don’t think it’ll be happening any time soon” he responded.

The door opened suddenly and you smiled at the boys. “What are you boys talking about?” you asked.

“You--”

“Nothing” JJ said, but John B was quicker.

You smirked at them. “Hopefully good things, right?” you asked, leaning your head on the frame of the door.

“Always. Well, I’m gonna go to sleep, it’s been a tough day for me and I think for you two, as well. Good night” he said, kissing your head, and patting JJ’s shoulder.

“Night” you and JJ said at the same time. 

“Shall we?” you asked him, motioning to the bedroom.

You and JJ got inside of the room and you collapsed on the bed, stretching your sore muscles. You saw JJ pulling his shirt off and the fucker knew that you were looking, so he decided to show off the muscles, contracting them, making your mouth water.

“Like what you see?” he teased you, looking over his shoulder.

You scoffed. “Of course I do” you said.

He crawled over to you, like a fucking cat, a smirk playing on his lips. “Well, hello there” he said, lowly.

You pressed your thighs together, trying to relieve the ache but you pushed him off of you. “Go to sleep, jackass” 

“Yes, that’s it, talk dirty to me, babe” he joked, making you elbow his side. “Ow, that hurts” he laughed.

He threw his arms around you, spooning, like you always did. 

A few minutes of silence were peacefully lying around but you decided to break it, a question was wandering in your head. 

“Hey J?” you asked quietly.

“Yes?” he said, his sleepy voice never failing to make you ache down there.

“You think that… if we find the gold and everything… we could, I don’t know… go together to Hawaii?” you asked shyly.

He made you turn around to get a proper look at your face. He smiled and nodded.

“I’d go anywhere with you, you didn’t have to ask that” he smiled.

You bit your lip. “And we can get a house on the beach, the marble statues” you smirked.

“One of you and one of me. And the koi pond. That’s important” he said.

You laughed at his words. “Of course, it wouldn’t be JJ’s house without one”

You and him started laughing about dumb shit the other would say. You loved these kind of moments. You didn’t care about the whole world, just you and him.

“Well, I’m honored you’d want a marble statue next to mine, what about if yours is-”

“No, JJ, you’re not getting a marble statue of me naked” you asked, knowing him like the palm of your hand.

He groaned. “Why not?”

You sighed and turned around, making him wrap his arms around you and bring you closer. 

“Good night, babe” he whispered in your ear.

You sighed contently. “Good night, J”

You started to think about all those moments you shared with him. The time you realized that you liked him, even more than a friend. You were 13 by the time, and it hit you like a wall of bricks. It was at a school party, and some girls were whispering and talking about JJ. You reeked of jealousy and it suddenly hit you, you were jealous of how girls were lusting over him. You went to throw up in the bathroom. 

Then when you realized you loved him. It was at your 16th birthday party. You were the youngest from the pogue group, meaning your birthday was always the last one to celebrate. JJ decided the best option to celebrate was with a picnic at the beach, on your favorite spot, at night, just you and him. You shared blunts and beer. You were high as hell, and so was he, but that didn't mean you were imagining your feelings for him. That night you almost kissed, his hand was on your thigh doing patterns and your fingers were in his hair. You both had leaned in but John B had called you, telling you they had your surprise ready.

That moment, when you saw his eyes shining in the moonlight and then falling to your lips, that made you click in your head:  _ you were in love with him.  _ And you knew those weren’t the kind of feelings you can ignore. No. Those were the feelings you knew they wouldn’t fly away with ease.

You left a sigh and you heard JJ shuffle in between the sheets, the arms around you tightening, pulling you even closer than you already were. His face buried in your neck, the breath tickling your ear. Yep. You were definitely fucked, there was no turning back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think in the comments! Again, thanks for reading


	7. Nobody's Fool

The next day you went to the marsh once again. You took off your clothes leaving you in a lilac new bikini that you got in a store that was on sale, surprisingly cheap. JJ’s eyes lingered a little too much on your body and you were proud of it.

You were sunbathing when a whistle from JJ, who was sitting beside you, startled you.

“You guys see that?” he said looking at a very big boat. You took off your sunglasses positioning them in your head, “That’s the Malibu 24-MXZ, the world’s finest wakesetter, number one in luxury, quality and performance, 200k easy” he said.

You sighed. “He’s cute when he gets all smarty pants, doesn’t he?”

He tickled you a little making you squeal. 

Pope sighed. “We picked the wrong parents”

“That we did, Pope” You agreed. 

“I hate to break it to you guys, but that’s Topper and his girlfriend” Kie said.

Sarah Cameron lifted her sunglasses, looking at all of you, pure disgust in her face. Topper not even bothering to look at you. 

“You don’t have to act like you don’t see us, bitch” you said, leaning back to your sunbathing position. 

Kie and Sarah had a rough history, when Kie attended Kook school, they’ve been best friends.But then something happened between them that made Kie hate her guts, more than ever. You didn’t have nothing against Sarah personally but what she did to Kie was enough, and how she treated Pogues.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Later that day, the five of you were in front of the golf club. John B parked the van, and got out. JJ sat in the front seat, gun in his hand.

“All right, keep a lookout” he said. “We’re behind enemy lines”

“Yo, come on man, put it back” John B pleaded him. 

“What?” he pretended not to hear.

You had already jumped off the van, and looked at him from his window. 

“JJ” you said sternly.

“You can never be too careful” he said, playing with the gun.

Pope approached the van, to stand next to you. “Hey, I predict that bringing a weapon to a four-star hotel will likely cause more problems than they solve” he said.

“I second that” you said.

He didn’t listen so you sighed. “I swear to God, I’m gonna throw that thing in the ocean, JJ” you said. “Put it back”

He didn’t. “You leave me no choice”

You grabbed the gun through the window and put the gun in the glove compartment of the van, shutting it with force. 

“You can’t grab a gun like that” JJ protested.

“I just did, come on” you said patting his window, to get him out of the vehicle.

“Can’t forget my badge” he said, leaning on the door. “Professional busboy” he said.

You all got out of the van and grabbed your bags. “So where are we going now?” Pope asked.

“We’re getting on the internet because only rich people have electricity right now” JJ answered. You all got through the kitchen and you and JJ waved to some people that you worked with. 

“Mama L, good to see you” JJ said, trying to steal something from a plate. 

“JJ!” she cried, swatting his hand away with her utensil.

“Sorry, Mama, forgot the boy’s leash at home” you said, making the old lady laugh. 

One of the boys working there winked at you and you waved at him. “Who was that?” JJ asked. 

“Hooked up with him last week” you said. 

JJ rolled his eyes, and sighed.

“What?” you asked, shrugging your shoulders.

You got out of the kitchen, to the ‘lobby’ while JJ did the tour of the place. 

“See they got the backup generators going? Kooks don’t miss a beat” he said. You followed him into the computers lounge, trying not to be seen.

“Sweet lord, the internet” Pope said in nerdy style. “I missed you”

You got inside of the room, JJ closing the door behind him. 

“Let me get in there, gotta check my insta models” he said. 

Kie huffed. “Is this because of the guy who winked at Y/N?”

JJ shrugged his shoulders. 

You rolled your eyes and sat on a chair next to Pope.

“Hey, hey, here” John B handed you a map. “I got the map”

“Coordinates, please?” Pope said. 

You paled. “Coordinates?” you asked, no idea what that was. 

John B sighed grabbing the map from your hand. “34° 57’ 30’’ north and 75° 55’ 42’’ west” 

Pope introduced the numbers into the computer and waited for the machine to register the coordinates. “Boom continental shelf right there” John B said.

“Okay, well, if it’s off the deep end, it’s not gonna be much of a treasure hunt, is it?” Pope said. “Come on, baby” 

The computer searched for the coordinates. Voices were heard outside and you turned around to check if anyone was going to get in the computer’s lounge. 

You turned around and looked at the computer, eyes widening. “Shit, it’s on the high side, it’s only 900 feet”

“That’s not too deep” JJ piped in.

“Is that doable or something?” Kiara asked.

“Yeah, totally doable” JJ nodded.

“Okay, we will be taking your personal submarine?” Pope asked JJ. 

“How do you know this, Mr. Dive master?” you asked him, looking at him behind your shoulder. 

“The salvage yard, baby” he said like it was obvious, “They got a drone that can drop 1000. It has a 360 camera and everything. It’s for like, deep dives and stuff. It’s exactly what we need.” 

“You think your dad can get his grimy little hands on that, hon?” you asked him. 

“Well, my dad’s grimy little hands got his ass fired, I guess the salvage captain frowns on showing up shitfaced, turns out. But the drone’s there. It’s in the impound yard out back“ JJ said.

“How much did you say was on the Royal Merchant?” Kie asked.

“400 mill” John B said, no hesitation.

“400 million dollars?” she asked incredulously. 

“Yep” you confirmed, poppin the p. 

“No! Absolutely not, no!” Pope said, covering the door. 

“Pope move!” Kie yelled. 

“No, guys- can we do anything legal for money?” Pope asked. 

“Come on, Pope. Let’s go” you said patting his back. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Pope, we’re not stealing the drone, we’re borrowing it” John B tried to reason with him but it was impossible.

“‘Humans are the only animals who can’t tell fantasy from reality’“ Pope quoted. 

“Did you come up with that?” John B asked.

“Albert Bernstein came up with it” Pope responded. “But it applies to this whole treasure-hunting thing” 

You saw JJ rolling up a blunt, his tongue peeking out to lick at the paper and then fold it. You bit your lip at the sight in front of you. How could anyone concentrate with such a good-looking boy? He looked at you, noticing you staring. You gestured for the blunt and he mouthed a  _ later _ . You nodded at him and pretended to look somewhere else.

“So which is it?” Pope asked. “Fantasy or reality?” 

“Why are you so weird, Pope?” you asked.

“It’s fantasy, but possible reality” Kie answered him. 

“Reality” John B said.

“Virtual reality” JJ said, handing you his blunt. You got closer to him so that he could light it but Pope snatched it from your mouth. 

“Hey!” you protested

“Keep the signal clear” he said. 

You whined, you were dying for a blunt, and leaned back to your seat. 

“You know what your problem is?” JJ started.

“You?” Pope said.

“No! Is that you need to relax, man. You’re always so tense” JJ said.

You and Kie exited the van while Pope and JJ continued to argue.

“I’m not too tense” Pope said.

“Hey! You got this” John B said to the both of you.

“Oh, I know, it’s those two who I worry about” you said, pointing at JJ and Pope.

JJ saw you outside of the van and peeked his head through the window. “Hey! You--” he said, making you turn around. “Be careful, okay?”

“As always, babe” you said, blowing him a kiss.

He smiled at you and continued watching you and Kie, mostly you, walk away. 

“You’re blushing” John B said to him.

“I’m not” he huffed, pulling his head inside of the van. 

You walked up with Kie to the security checkpoint and waved your hand. 

“Hello!” Kie said. “Excuse me?” 

The guard got out of the checkpoint and opened the gate. 

“Can I help you?” he asked the both of you.

“Hi, um, me and my friend actually have a flat tire” you said pointing to the black car behind you. “I was wondering if maybe you could help us out?” the guy stood looking at you, like a pervert, so you winked at him. 

“Yeah” he said, stepping back to grab some stuff. 

“Y/N Y/L/N you’re a charmer” Kie said.

You laughed. “Creeps like these ones” you said pointing at your chest.

“By creeps you mean JJ right?” Kie said, smiling.

You punched her shoulder. “Shut up!”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Meanwhile, JJ, John B and Pope were hiding behind a big piece of wood. 

“How’s it going with Kiara?” JJ asked John B.

“It’s not awkward, weird or anything” he lied.

He snorted. “Yeah, honestly I did not think you were gonna actually listen to me”

“What?” he asked.

“I was 100% sure she was into you” he defended. “Pope would agree”

“Ehh, I’m actually more sure about you and Y/N” Pope said. 

“God, would you drop that already?” JJ said. “Do I like her? Of course, I do, who wouldn’t? Does she like me? no-” JJ started but they cut him off

“Yes, she does” Pope and John B said at the same time.

“Anyways, Kie, she, like, definitely gave you the Heisman?” JJ asked.

“Oh, no question. Yup” John B said.

“Gotcha” 

“Maybe she’s just into somebody else” Pope said.

John B and JJ turned to look at him. He didn’t answer nor turn his head to look at them. JJ looked at you and Kie and you pointed to the man the flat tire, bending over, giving the boys a very good angle of your backside. 

He whistled lowly. “Sweet mother of Go- ow” he said, until John B punched his side.

“Stop drooling over my sister, dude” John B said to his friend. 

When Kie positioned herself behind you, giving the signal, the guys ran to the right. 

“Go, go, go” JJ said, whispering. 

They ran as fast as they could, passing the parking lot, into the area. Meanwhile, the security guard took your flat tire, trying to change it.

The boys continued running until the back storage. JJ put the passcode in the golden lock quickly, but the numbers weren’t correct.

“Do you have the right numbers?” Pope asked while JJ slammed the lock on the door. 

“Okay, so I might have the wrong numbers” he said.

“Ugh, dammit” Pope said, grabbing his cap and twisting it around his fingers.

A big dog came barking at them and John B sent himself running, while Pope did the same. JJ tried to distract him, but the animal started running after him. 

When the guard was in the middle of fixing the tire, he heard his dog barking. 

“Wait, do you hear that?” he asked you.

“Hear what?” Kie asked, trying to seem nonchalant, but failing.

The guard stood up. “Tebow’s got something” he said.

“It’s probably just a racoon, maybe, you know?” you said, twirling your hair in between your fingers, popping the gum balloon you just did. He smiled at you and continued with the tire.

“Nothing to worry about” Kie said.

Kie went to the other side of the truck and tried to puncture the other tire, but the guard came over and saw her. Your eyes widened and cursed internally. 

“What are you doing?” he asked. 

“This one looks a little low” Kie said. You prayed that he would believe her.

He dropped his stuff and started running towards his dog. “Wait! Wait!” you said. “Ugh” 

You and Kie quickly got inside of her car. She started the engine as quickly as possible, looking behind your shoulder to see if someone was coming. 

JJ was on a boat hiding, the dog continued barking after it. The guard came running to see what he got. 

“What’s that, Tebow, what you got?” he asked, taking out his gun from his pocket. “Whoever’s up there better come on out! I mean it!” he yelled.

JJ gripped the bars and sighed, not knowing what to do. 

“Don’t make me go up there and get your ass” he yelled. 

“Wait, Bobby,” JJ said, hands in the air, lifting himself slowly. “Don’t shoot. It's me JJ“ he said, making himself visible to the Guard. “Luke’s kid”

“What are you doing?” he asked.

He sighed. “I swear okay? I didn’t want to, okay?” 

The dog continued barking and the guard shushed him.

“My dad made me” he said.

“Don’t you lie!” the guard yelled.

“He told me Captain Leo kept his cutting torch, you know after he got fired” he started ‘crying’ softly, making the scene more credible. “He said if I didn’t get it for him, he was gonna… he was gonna hit me again” 

The guard scoffed. “Son of a bitch”

“I'm sorry” JJ said. 

The guard sighed. “Come on down,” he told him. JJ started climbing down the ladder. “I almost kill you”

“I know.” he said. Once he reached the ground he sniffed. “I’ll just come up with something, tell him I couldn’t find it”

“All right”

“Sorry” he apologized, more tears coming down his face. He started walking, the guard behind him, a slow smile appearing in his face. He wiped the fake tears and walked away. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The night fell, and John B parked the van at the outside of the Wreck. 

“Stealing drones makes me hungry,” Kie said.

“What I would do to a beer and shrimp and grits right now” JJ said.

“Oh fuck, same” you whistled from behind, getting out of the van right after him. 

“It would not be pretty” Pope said. 

They got inside The Wreck and Kie waved at his dad.

“Hey dad” 

“Hey, Mr. C'' you smiled at him, he smiled back. From all of Kie’s friends, you were the only one he tolerated and liked. 

“How did we do?” she asked him.

“Didn’t turn over once” he responded.

“It’s probably just bad luck from the storm” she said and hugged him.

You walked with the boys to the table you usually sat at. You noticed that her dad was looking at you, and all the boys. 

“So hungry” John B said, rubbing his stomach. 

You waved smiling while the others smiled and waved too. She suddenly hugged her old man and he told her something you couldn’t figure out. 

“Sit down” Kie said and you whooped.

As always, the table of four, everybody sitting down while you sat on JJ’s lap. You guys ate like you haven’t eaten in years. Kie, an angel as always, served water to you and the boys, while they laughed at you, failing to catch a fry. 

Kie suddenly made a gesture with his fingers to John B, asking him to dance. You raised an eyebrow at your friend. You and JJ sat staring at them smiling. They danced really close to each other, and you sighed, happy for your friend. 

You turned around to look at Pope who was watching her closely. 

You felt a pair of lips pressed to your shoulder. “Wanna dance?”

“Oh, of course” you giggled, standing up extending your arm for him to take, starting to dance really close to him. 

He pulled you close, your noses almost touching. You swayed to the music and smiled at the blonde. He twirled you around and then made your back press against his chest, and you stayed right there, swaying to the music, smile plastered on your face. You decided that you could spend the rest of your life just like this, dancing with him, forgetting about the rest of the world. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The next day you were on the boat, trying out the newly stolen drone. John B had jumped to the water to see how the camera looked, while you, JJ and Pope sat looking at the screen that projected your friend. 

“What’s that?” JJ asked like a little kid.

“Don’t touch that, I’m trying to work out this thing ” Pope said. 

He got it working and you sighed. “God bless geeks, Pope. Truly man” you said.

“What would we do without you to control the drones?” JJ asked.

“It’s not a drone, it’s an ROV” Pope said, geekily.

“Shut up-” he interrupted the boy. “Shut up, it’s too early for that right now.”

Kie and John B emerged from the water. “Hey, look, once we get footage of the wreck, we’ll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim” John B said from the water.

You sighed, leaning on the dock. “Dude that’s bullshit, why do we have to do that?” you asked. 

“Well there is a maritime salvage law” Pope said, “You can’t just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up” 

“See, baby, don’t try to be smarty pants” JJ said, smirking at you.

You turned to him, “You shut up, bet ya didn’t know that either, and besides, I know that we have like, to call someone for that, it’s just lawyers are expensive as shit, bro” you said.

“Well, as soon as they see the footage, they’ll work for a comp” John B said. 

“How do you know all of that?” Kie said, floating in the water. 

He scoffed, “Cause my dad said it like, a million times”

“Yeah, that’s fair” 

“This tether is like, really long, in the wrong weather it could get pushed around” you said looking at the large yellow rope. 

“Then we’ll go at dead calm,” John B said. 

Suddenly the thunder started rumbling, you looked up and saw the dark clouds forming in the sky. 

“At slack tide?” Kie asked climbing up the ladder of the dock.

“So now we just gotta wait around for the right weather,” Pope said. 

”And today, it's not that day” you said, glancing at the clouds. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Later you were with JJ and Pope delivering groceries. It was fun, cause you were with your friends and kooks always gave you nice tips because of how good-looking you were. You batted your eyelashes a little and they were falling at your feet, rich men are always an easy target. 

“You get these groceries over to Figure eight, get straight back here when you’re done, no fishing. Y/N, you keep an eye on these boys, all right?” Pope’s dad said to you.

You saluted. “No prob, Mr. Heyward. As always” you smiled.

“Good, I promised delivery by this afternoon, rich folks don’t wanna wait for you lazy sons of…” he trailed off, he saw JJ with his arms extended. He gave him the bags with supplies and smiled, handing them to him, “Oh, JJ thank you… sons of bitches”

You laughed, while Pope said goodbye to his dad, and started the boat.

You and the boys started sailing through the marsh. “Doesn’t look like the storm hit there” Pope said, contemplating Figure 8. 

“That’s because they got generators, Pope” you said, looking out the window from your seat.

“Get used to it” JJ said, playing with his knife. “And then they say the juice will be out all summer on the cut”

“It’s nice to be a kook” Pope commented.

You scoffed, rolling your eyes, “Lucky bastards” you said. 

Then they arrived at the shore and Pope went to grab the bags from the back and said, “I’ll be right back, you deliver yours”

“All right” you said, grabbing your bags and you went to deliver them.

Later, you got all the bags delivered, a guy who you flirted with tipped you 50 bucks and you were happy. You found JJ on your way and told him.

“J, a guy just tipped me 50 bucks” you squealed.

“Well, I won. Wait, I gotta tell Pope too” JJ said, running and you followed him down the dock, to the boat. “Pope! You are not gonna believe what just happened to me, man! Whoo! That was the best 100 bucks, I’ve ever made man” he said.

“Woah, you got 100!” you yelled, “Damn, I gotta start using more flirty pick up lines” you said.

JJ laughed. “When I say count me in on all those grocery deliveries, Pope, I mean it” he said, sitting down.

You reached the boat with a smile, but faded once you saw him. “Hey, what’s up? You good?” you asked your friend.

He just stared at nothing, not answering. 

JJ inspected him and saw blood on his head. “Yo, what happened to your face, dude?” he asked.

You took off his cap, and saw the larsh gash on his head. “Shit”

“Jesus” JJ yelled. “What happened?” 

“Rafe and Topper jumped at me” he said. “They said, no Pogues on their side of the island”

You huffed. “Fucking kooks” you whispred. “What are you gonna do?” you asked him, and he looked at you, not knowing what to say. “Let them win? Oh, no” 

You then stopped the boat, staring at a yacht that looked more expensive than your lives combined. 

“2020 Malibu, 24-MXC, the world’s finest wakesetter. Number one in quality, luxury and performance” Pope recited. 

You sighed. “This is war, Pope, they hit us, we hit them” you said looking at the fine boat.

JJ put an arm around you, “That’s my girl”

You and JJ pulled a bandana over your faces, in case someone saw you and recognized your faces. 

“Do it” JJ said. 

Pope took off his cap and shirt, and then threw himself to the water, swimming to the Thorton’s boat. 

You and JJ stared at him, guarding anyone seeing him. He pulled the plug that prevented the boat from sinking and he threw himself to the water once again, swimming to their boat. You watched happily as your friend swam, the boat from your enemy sinking slowly. 

Pope reached the boat’s ladder, holding the plug in his hand.

“Ah, you did it” JJ said to him.

You grabbed it, the boy smiling. “I’m so proud of you, right now” you told him, making him chuckle.

“Holy crap” JJ said. 

Pope got on the boat. “Y/N, JJ“ he called you.

You turned around, at the same time as the blonde. “You can’t tell anyone” he said,

“Oh, no” you shook your head.

“No, definitely” he responded. 

“No, I’m serious guys, not Kie, not John B, anybody” he said.

JJ looked at you, and you turned around to face him too. 

“Our lips are sealed” you said. “Give me that, give me that” you said, asking for the plug. He gave it to you, and you handed it to JJ. He threw it far into the water, the thing getting lost in it. 

“Great, let’s get out of here” JJ said, running to the driver cabin of the boat. 

You then got to the shore, and saw John B and Kie on their surfboards.

“Hey! Save some waves for us” you yelled running to the water, the boys behind you.

“Where you been?“ Kie asked.

It was better that you didn’t answer that question. 

After a surfing session, the night fell and you found yourself in a hammock in between JJ’s legs, Kie on the other side, John B and Pope on the other hammock. It was a nice silence you guys had created. Until Pope broke it. 

“You really think it’s out there? Like, no bullshit?” Pope asked. 

“My father thought it was” John B said. 

“But do you?” Pope asked. You seriously resisted the urge to tell him to shut up. 

A thunder rumbling was heard along with John B’s voice. “After hearing his voice on that tape, I think I do.” he responded. 

“Only one way to find out” Pope said, then doing a bro-handshake.

“Look, we’re gonna find it, you know?” you said, breaking the silence. “Even JJ believes” you said, faking a surprise face.

“Oh my God JJ, do you really believe?” John B teased.

“Totally… wait. Are we talking about four mil?” he asked. 

“Four hundred mil” Kie and Pope said at the same time. “Jinx”

JJ sat in silence for a minute. “I’m gonna dream about shipwrecks,” he said. “Goodnight, Bird!”

“Good night, bird shit” you said, snuggling into JJ’s chest, his arms pulling you even closer. You breathed his scent and fell asleep. 


	8. Eye For an Eye

The next day, you were on the marsh with the Pogues for the Royal Merchant hunt with the drones… or whatever Pope called them. 

“All right, JJ pin it here!” John B yelled from the driver’s seat of Heyward’s boat.

“Roger that! X marks the spot” the blonde yelled back. 

“All right, ladies and gentleman. To going full kook” John B said, handling the big machine in his hands, ready to be thrown into the ocean. 

“To going full kook” you echoed back as you watched your brother throw the machine to the ocean. 

JJ started driving the boat expertly trying to get it to the point you were trying to get to. John B told you to go help him get to the point in case he went anywhere else. Kie handled the rope as she got it further into the ocean. You told JJ where to drive and he kept swatting your hands away, you wanting to manage the boat. Suddenly Pope gasped and your heart stopped.

“What?” John B asked excitedly.

“Nothing,” Pope said.

“Ugh, Pope” you said.

“Don't do that to me man” JJ said. 

Then the boat started to get further away from the target. “Hey J-” 

“Could you let  _ me _ handle this?” he said harshly.

You furrowed your eyebrows. “You got your fucking panties twisted? You’re doing it wrong and I’m being a good samaritan by helping you out” you said. 

“Well, John B told me-” JJ started but you cut him off.

“God! Just shut up, and let a woman be in charge for fuck’s sakes” you said shoving his hands away and grabbed the boat’s steering wheel. 

The thunder approached but you didn’t care about this. You wanted those 400 mill now. 

“Okay, let’s do this” you said, handling the steering wheel. 

“Steady there! Steady there, Y/N” John B yelled at you and you did as you were told. 

“Got it” you said. “And?” you said once you reached it. 

“You just turned me on, you know that?” JJ said, still shocked at your outburst, looking at you while biting his lip seductively.

You sighed, and saw John B, Kie and Pope staring at the screen. 

“See anything?” you and JJ asked at the same time.

”It’s the Royal Merchant” he said, breathlessly, like he couldn’t believe it.

Your eyes widened like plates.  _ Holy shit _ . You looked at JJ, his expression same as yours. 

You then saw John B sigh and start walking, like pacing back and forth. “It’s not there” he whispered, but you caught it and sighed too. “Just pull it up”

“We can-- we can go back down” Pope encouraged. 

“Guys, we’ve done it three times. There’s nothing there” JJ yelled. 

“Shut up!” you yelled at him.

“What? It’s true” he defended himself. 

“The gold could be buried. We don’t know” Kie yelled. 

John B yelled too. “If it was there, it would’ve been found on the metal detector, okay?“ he said. “Somebody beat us to it”

You nodded at his words from your place.

“Or it was never there” JJ said. You punched his side. 

The thunder continued to rumble and you sighed, looking out the window of the boat. The four pogues stared at the sea, hopelessly, and you did the same. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Later that day, you found yourself tagging along for some theatre night. 

“I’m so glad they’re still doing this. Keep calm, carry on” Kie said.

You sighed. “Yep, me too” you said walking along with your friend. 

“Aren’t you glad I made you come?” Kie asked the boys. 

“Ecstatic” Pope responded, sarcasm laced in his voice. 

JJ cleared his throat. “My couch was pretty comfy, I’ll be honest” he said. 

Pope whispered to JJ in his ear. “We’re out of the green zone man” 

You huffed. “Pope, no one’s gonna find- hey!” you said once he grabbed your arm and pulled you far away.

“That’s the thing. They already know” he said, panicking.

“Oh shit” you said rolling your eyes, face-palming yourself. “You have to stop being such a pussy, sometimes” you told him going back to the group. 

JJ looked at you two. “Dude,  _ tranquilo _ , okay?“

“We’re in the middle of Kooklandia” he answered. “This is the last place I wanted to be” 

“Shut up, Pope” you said, sitting down with all your friends. As always, you sat in between JJ’s legs, and he put his arms around you. 

Kie came over again, two pepsis in her hand, she handed one to you for you and JJ and you opened it, taking a sip. 

“Just saw Rafe and he said, and I quote “Tell your boy that we know what he did”, what is that?” Kie said, sitting down.

You saw Pope panicking and you gripped his arm, so that he didn’t say anything. “Umm…” JJ started. 

“Where is he?” you asked. 

“Right there” Kie said, looking over her shoulder. The three of you whirled around and saw Topper and Rafe standing together looking at you.

You winked at them and turned around, trying to seem nonchalant about the fact that you drowned Topper’s boat. 

“Great, the whole death squad- Ah!” Pope cried when you grabbed his head, turning it to face the other way.

“Don’t stare bro” JJ said. “Just warning you bro, if they corner me, I’m coming out swinging, okay? Slice and dicin’, I’m on edge right now” he said, making you snort. He looked at you ‘offended’.

“Sure, J” you laughed. 

He rolled his eyes and continued. “If that doesn’t work, I got these right here” he said, grabbing his bag and holding it up. Your eyebrows furrowed at that.

“Yeah, yeah. So we gotta stay in the group” Pope said.

You looked at Kie, who had a disappointed face on her. 

“I’m sorry JJ, please tell me that you did not bring the gun here” you asked him. 

“JJ there are kids!” Kie said.

“No!” he said, looking at you and then Kie. “I didn’t bring the gun. Everything’s fine, okay?” 

“Wow, thank you. That’s pretty convincing, I love that JJ” Kiara said. 

JJ looked away from her death stare and you did too, just in case. 

“Founding principle, you guys. No secrets amongst Pogues” she said. She was right. “What is Rafe talking about?”

You sighed. “Kie, it might go down tonight” Pope told her. 

Kie sat confused as hell. “What does that mean?” she asked, then looked at us. “‘Might go down tonight’? What did y’all do?” she yelled. She looked at you, but you didn’t look at her. “Y/N?”

“Deny, deny, deny” JJ whispered in your ear. You swallowed and looked at him. 

The night fell then and the movie was a little boring. You and JJ had downed all your chocolate snacks and were fighting for who eats the last piece. Obviously you won, making that irresistible puppy face you always did. 

“JJ” Pope whispered. “Gotta take a piss” he whispered.

You grimaced and shook your head eating the chocolate. 

“Hold it” you said. 

He shook his head. “I can’t hold it, I drank too much soda” he said. 

“It’s too exposed, they’ll totally see us” JJ said. 

“I gotta go” Pope said. You huffed, wiping your palm over your face. 

Pope looked over his shoulders and then looked back at you and JJ. “They’re blocking the bathrooms” 

JJ looked to his surroundings and said, “Alright, come here. I know where” he said ready to stand up. You panicked and grabbed his arm.

“Baby, are you crazy?” you whispered to him. 

He kissed your cheek. “We’ll be fine, come on” he said. 

They stood up and Kie noticed them. “Hey, where are y’all going?”

“We gotta wring it out” JJ said. 

You sighed,  _ this was a bad idea, a very bad one _ . 

“You’re gonna hold it for each other?” kiara asked. You laughed slightly, trying to shake off the fear and tensing up on your body. 

They walked to the place where they were supposed to go piss. You finally decided to stand up and follow them. “I’m gonna make sure those two are fine” you said. 

“What?” you heard Kie mumble. 

You walked up to them and saw them pissing, you just stayed behind them. 

You heard them sigh. “This feels better than a blowjob” Pope said.

“Like you know how that feels” JJ responded.  _ Cocky _ , you thought.

“This feels better than what I imagine a blowjob would feel like” Pope said.

“Want one?” you asked, and JJ quickly zipped up his pants and turned around to face you. 

“You scared the shit out of me, Y/N” Pope said. “Don’t do that”

“Hey, what about me?” JJ said, referring to the blowjob.

You laughed, getting closer to the blonde. 

“Get in the line” you said.

He was about to say something, but Pope interrupted him. “You bring the peacemaker?” he asked.

“Oh shit, I forgot it” JJ said. 

“You forgot it?” Pope said.

“Hurry up!“ you said to him. “Jeez you have a waterfall there, Pope?” you asked. 

Pope tried to hurry up. “Dude, you had one job. That’s all I asked you to do, man” he said, zipping up his pants, putting them right back on. 

“I know, let’s go back” JJ said, making his way back to where Kie was but a voice made all of you stop dead in your tracks.

“What’s up, Pogues?” Rafe’s voice could be heard. 

JJ grabbed your arm quickly, puting you behind him. You grasped his arms and sighed.  _ Well shit.  _ This wasn’t going to be pretty.

“What’s up, Rafe” JJ said.

“How you guys doing tonight?” the kook asked.

Pope tried to run back. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?” you asked from behind JJ. 

“Hey, I just wanna talk,” Rafe said. 

Pope was intercepted by Topper who was walking towards him. “Hey, hey”

“Just chill out, Topper” Pope said, stretching his arms in front of him, a sign of peace.

“Yeah, yeah, that was some nice work you did on my boat” Topper said. Kelce suddenly came to stand next to his friends. 

“I don’t know what you mean” Pope said.

“You brought your whole Suicide Squad, Top. That scared of us?“ you asked. 

Rafe laughed at you and JJ’s grip on you tightened. “Not so burly without a gun now, are you?” Rafe said to him. 

“Take one more step, I’ll rip that prepubescent face off” JJ said. God, he was hot when he defended you like that. 

Topper took a step closer to Pope and said, “Hey, Pope, do you feel good with yourself, stealing shit? I mean, is your mom proud of you? Is your dad?” he said and next thing, Pope slammed his head to Topper’s. 

You gasped. “Wow, atta boy” you said, grasping his arm, pulling his back to his place.

“With your fist, okay? Like this” JJ said, stepping to swing at Kelce who was coming to tackle him, but he grabbed him and punched him several times in the face. Pope punched Topper in the face. 

Rafe stood there, looking at you. “You touch me, and I’ll make sure you spit your balls out of your mouth” you said.

He came closer to you grabbing your arms but you kneed him in his groin, making him stumble back. He pushed you, making you fall to the ground. Kelce grabbed JJ from behind, while Rafe started punching him. You lifted yourself up, throwing yourself on top of Rafe, punching his face as hard as you could. He shook you off, and continued to punch JJ in the face.

You couldn’t bear seeing him like this so you threw yourself over to Rafe, knocking him to the ground. You straddled his torso, hitting him as hard as you could. A punch to your stomach and then your ribs made you fall down to the ground with a groan.

“Y/N!!” you heard JJ yell. 

Then Kie came in action. “Topper let go of him you faccist asshole” she said, punching his back with her backpack. 

“This isn't about you, Kiara” Rafe yelled in rage. 

You tried to stand and saw Rafe grabbing Kiara roughly, making her stumble to the ground. You ran to him again tackling him, but grabbing his arms. “You touch her again, I swear to god-” 

The smell of smoke filled your nostrils and then watched how the cinema screen was burning, Kie beside it with JJ’s lighter. 

You heard the crowd gasping and the kooks sped off to God knows where. 

“Get off of him” Kie yelled. You saw JJ being strangled by Kelce and you ran to him.

“Hey, let go!” you yelled pushing him off. JJ fell to the ground and you caught his face in your hands. “You okay?” you asked him, he nodded weakly and you put your forehead on his, breathing him in. “You scared the shit out of me, Maybank”

He laughed softly and you helped him stand up. “Come on”

“You’re a freaking idiot” Pope said to Kie.

“I saved your ass, come on” Kie said. “Hey, Y/N, you’ll be alright?”

“I’m taking J to my house, you guys go, see ya” you said.

She waved at you and you walked home, JJ stumbling a little bit and chuckling every time he almost slipped. You reached your house and your mother was sipping a glass of water when she saw you with JJ, his face bloody and you gripping your ribs. 

“Hey, you’re back- Oh my God, Y/N, JJ what happened?” she asked.

JJ huffed. “Fucking kooks happened” he snarked.

“Rafe, and his goons” you replied “They thought it was cool to jump on us” you lied. 

Your mother shook her head. “Kooks are the worst plague” she complained, getting up from her couch and getting the first aid kit from under the sink. “Here you go, make sure you don’t bleed on the bed sheets, I just washed them”

“Of course, thank you Ms. Y/L/N” JJ said.

“No problem, kid” she said, resuming her place on the couch. 

You deposited him on the bed and you turned on the light, to inspect his wounds. “Ohh… Rafe did some nice work here” you joked.

He laughed and looked at you. “You looked hot punching Rafe” he said.

“I know, I gotta say, you looked hotter punching Kelce” you smiled, cleaning up the wounds on his face. “Who would want to hurt this face?” you joked, laughed and then winced when it hurt too much your ribs. 

He looked at your side and grabbed your waist. “Did they punch you?” he asked, gritting his teeth.

You nodded. “Yeah, in my stomach and I think my ribs” you winced.

He huffed throwing his cap on the floor. “I should’ve grabbed the gun and fucking-“

“Hey-” you interrupted him by grabbing his face, making him face you. “It’s alright, I’m okay. I’ve been punched before, don’t worry” you said.

He sighed, calming down and looking down. “This is my fault, honestly”

“No it’s not, I came up with it” you said.

“I got the idea of the whole ‘revenge’ thing. It is my f-” he started but you cut him off by grabbing his chin, and making him look at you. 

“No, it’s not” you said sternly. Your hands rubbed his face, his gaze falling to your lips. He leaned in a little, rubbing his nose with yours. Your lips barely touched, and he was about to lean in completely until a knock on the door made both of you startle. 

“It’s everything okay there?” she asked. “How’s JJ?” 

You and him pulled your faces away from each other and coughed. “Yeah, we’re okay mom, just a couple of wounds I had to clean. Everything’s fine” you tried to seem nonchalant. 

“Okay, whatever you need-” she said but you cut her off.

“We let you know, got it, goodnight mom“ you said, rubbing your neck.

“Goodnight, love you two” she said to you and JJ.

“Good night, ms. Y/L/N” JJ said. 

The steps faded away and you looked at JJ. An awkward tension was formed until he broke it. “Can… Can I see yours?” 

You arched an eyebrow. “Are you trying to be a pervert?”

He laughed. “Your wounds, babe” 

You nodded and by the top you were wearing, they were pretty visible, you honestly didn't know how your mom didn’t see them. He applied rubbing alcohol to a piece of cotton and started wiping it over your skin, applying gentle pressure. You bit your lip at how close his face was to yours. Your wild thoughts started running in your head and you shifted in your place after feeling that familiar ache in between your legs that you normally felt with JJ. He was biting his lip and his concentrated face was so hot. He then threw the used cotton inside the trash and wiped his hands on his cargo shorts.

“Done?” you asked quietly, offering a little smile at the boy. 

“Yeah” he rasped. Well, so you weren't the only one who wanted those things you were thinking about. 

“You wanna stay over?” you asked him. “I don’t want your dad seeing you like this” you whispered, rubbing his chin a little.

He sighed. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll stay with you if that’s what you want”

You smiled and kissed his cheek. “Great” 

You changed to your pajamas on your bathroom, noticing only your shirt was clean while your shorts dirty, great, you had to sleep in the same bed in a shirt and panties with your best friend, who’s hot as hell and he thinks you’re hot as hell and the sexual tension is bigger than any mansion in any house at Figure 8. 

You got out of the bathroom, JJ already in bed, shirtless. Okay this is gonna be harder than it looks. He looked at you and his eyes visibly widened. He noticed your lack of pants. He made space so that you could get into bed. “Good night, J”

“Good night, Y/N” he said, his voice a little raspy.

You turned around so that your back was facing his chest and then, he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close, so that you were spooning. Your breath caught in your throat and you tried to seem nonchalant about it.

It was a long ass night. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for making y’all wait, but here it is!


	9. Just Tonight

The next day you were in Heyward’s shop with Kiara, JJ and Pope. You were picking up some stuff and helping Pope with his tasks. 

“Don’t let it get in your head. Three of them and two of us” JJ said. 

“Hey! I was there too” You cried.

JJ laughed. “I was talking more about you and me, Pope doesn’t count” he said. You laughed and Pope rolled his eyes. “That’s some typical kook shit right there”

“Hell, yeah” Kie said. 

“What was your thought process using your head, Pope?” You asked him.

Pope sighed. “I don’t know. I just kind of acted off instinct” he said. “ I was a cornered animal”

You laughed and then remembered what happened last night with you and JJ. You grabbed Kie’s arm and brought her far enough so that the boys couldn’t hear you. 

“Okay, I gotta confess something,” you said.

Kie’s eyes widened. “Oh-oh”

“Is JJ looking?” you asked Kie and she looked over your shoulder and then shook her head.

“Nope, now tell me!” she insisted. 

“JJ and I almost kissed last night” you blurted out. 

“You what?!” she yelled and quickly covered her mouth.

You prayed to God that JJ didn’t hear her. “Kie, please”

“Sorry” she whispered. “Tell me everything“

You sighed and pushed your hair back. “Okay so, kooks beat the shit out of us, right? We go to my house and I start cleaning up his wounds, then one thing leads to another about whose blame was and I just put, like, my hands on his face. He came real close to me and then my mom interrupted us” you said. “And then my pajama pants were dirty so I had to sleep in my pajama shirt and panties and the worst part, he didn’t have a shirt” you started rambling.

“Okay, that’s some juicy details you have,” Kie said. “Well, if you almost kissed then I guess that’s the kind of confirmation you needed to prove that he likes you” she said.

You just shook your head. 

“You won’t let that get in your head, are ya?” she asked. 

“Okay, maybe he likes me. But we’ve been friends forever and… I don’t wanna ruin that” you said.

Kie was about to say something when Heyward’s voice was heard through the shop. “Hey, Pope, someone’s here to see you”

You looked at Kie with the same confused expression and followed her to where Heyward was. Officer Shoupe appeared and your heart dropped to your stomach. 

“Evening, officer” Pope said.

“I have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property,” Shoupe said, getting the handcuffs from his pocket. 

“What?” Pope’s dad asked.

The deputy walked to him. “Hands were I can see them”

You looked at JJ with tears in your eyes, and he grabbed your hand, squeezing your fingers. This was all your fault. 

“Whoa, Shoupe, what did he do?” Heyward asked. 

“Look at the warrant,” he answered. 

“You’re arresting him?” Kie asked.

Heyward stepped up. “You’re arresting my boy?”

You and JJ stood there watching the scene, not knowing what to do. The Deputy started saying all the rights he had, like a lawyer, a call, and whatever. JJ was thinking too much and you kind of had an idea of what he was going to do, and it made your heart stop. He looked at you and you shook your head. 

“How much did they pay you, man?” JJ said, getting ready to follow them, and you did too. 

They got outside, you fighting so that Pope didn’t get arrested, until JJ’s voice made you stop dead in your tracks, your stomach dropping nearly to the floor. 

“It wasn’t him!” he yelled.

You turned around to face him.  _ No, please no. _

“It was me” he said.

“JJ, please” you whispered to him. He saw your eyes filled with tears. JJ shook his head and stepped to Shoupe. 

“He tried to talk me out of it, but I was mad because he’d just been beaten up” he said.

You were desperately trying to convince him to shut up. But it was either him or Pope. 

“I was so sick of those assholes from Figure 8 that I lost my shit” he said walking up to Shoupe. “I can’t let you take the blame for something I did, you got too much to lose” he said looking at Pope. 

“J…” you said. “J, what are you doing?”

“I’m telling the truth, babe“ JJ said, looking at you. “For once in my goddamn life, I’m gonna tell the truth. I took his old man’s boat too”

“What the hell?” Heyward said.

“JJ, come on” Pope tried.

“Just shut up, Pope. Just shut up” he said, smirking. How the hell was he smirking when he was about to get arrested. “He’s a good kid, you know where I’m from”

You sighed and tried to walk up to him, but Kie held your arm. 

“That’s the whole truth?” Shoupe asked Pope.

“Whole truth, swear to God” JJ asked.

Shoupe turned to look at the blonde, “I know what you think, damn it, I’m asking Pope” he said. The dark-skinned boy stood there, a moment of silence was heard. JJ nodded to him, signaling to say yes. 

“Yeah, that about covers” Pope said. 

You huffed and ran your hands through your hair. The love of your life was about to get arrested and you couldn’t do anything to stop it. They put the handcuffs on his wrists and you cried. “JJ” you said, following him. He looked at you and sighed, you shook your head and looked away. They put him inside the car, and closed the door, the armored glass made it impossible to look at him. 

The police car drove away with JJ in it and a yell ripped through your throat kicking out a beer bottle on the floor. “Fuck!”

Pope threw his cap to the floor and walked inside the shop. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Hours later, JJ got out of the interrogation room after he was left in a cell. Luke Maybank was signing some papers, and he looked at him, pure disgust in his eyes.

“You his guardian?” the officer asked him. 

“Sorry to say, I’m his father” he said.

The officer looked at Luke and sighed. “Well, hearing will be in two weeks. If you fail to show up, you will forfeit your bail” she said to him. “The restitution will be based on the average of three outside estimates of the cost of the damaged article”

“Restitution?” JJ’s dad asked confused. 

The officer looked at him. “Pay for what he broke. It’s part of the plea”

Luke looked at him. He looked like he despised him. 

“Yeah, and sign right here” the deputy told him, handing him a paper and a pen. 

He signed them quickly and threw the pen on the counter. “Let’s go. Go. Now!” he yelled at him. 

They got outside, JJ with his hands in his pockets. 

“I wonder what restitution’s gonna be on a 2019 Malibu” his old man started, walking down to his car. 

He sighed. “I’ll pay it off. All of it, I swear , dad” JJ said.

“Shit, 30k?” he asked. “When you gonna clear that, big guy? When all you do is smoke weed, hang out with that Y/H/C bitch of yours, and hang out on the south side? Huh?” he asked, referring to you. 

JJ clenched his jaw, trying not to say anything about his comment on you. 

“Get in the car” he ordered. 

JJ doubted. He didn’t know what he would do if he got in the car. He sighed and got in it, deciding to not be a little bitch, and face the consequences. He shut the door and looked forward. Luke looked at the steering wheel, anger starting to form in him. 

“Dad, I swear--” he said but a punch from his dad cut him off. The window splattered with blood. Anyone who would’ve passed them, would get a free show of Luke Maybank beating the shit out of his kid. 

“Thirty! Thousand! Dollars!” he said, each word, with each punch. “Do you know what you did to me? Damn--” he said and continued beating him. 

Once they got home, JJ’s dad started playing rock music so loudly that JJ had to shut himself in his bedroom, covering his ears from the profanities that left Luke’s lips. 

“How you gonna get that money back?” he asked. 

JJ covered his ears, growling, trying to get him to shut up for once. 

“By sitting around and doing nothing?” he yelled, glass of alcohol in his hand. “I’m gonna tell you right now, you are a worthless piece of shit” he yelled back at him. 

“Shut up!” JJ yelled.

“Your mama knew!” 

“Shut up!”

JJ messed up his whole room and threw his bed covers to the floor.

“You tell me where you’re gonna get 30 grand now! Get your ass in here” he continued to yell. He continued to breath heavily, covering his ears and kicking the things on his floor. 

Half an hour later, his dad passed out on the couch, the heavy rock song died down too. JJ got out of his room, looking at his dad on the couch. His breath continued being uneven and his nerves were almost killing him. 

He took the backpack off his shoulder, depositing it on the coffee table. Suddenly he grabbed his gun, a click could be heard. He aimed at his dad, his hand shaking it. He could pull the trigger and his insides would be splattering out of him, the nightmare would end. His chin trembled and he suddenly craved your comfort, your touch. He seriously wanted to pull it but he shoved the gun away, grabbing his backpack and getting out of his house. He hopped on his motorcycle and sped off to John B’s.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You got to your house, crying your eyes out and found your mother talking to your dad. 

“William, what are you doing here?” you asked. One thing you promised yourself, is that you’ll never call him ‘dad’. Just by his real name, he deserved it. 

“Hey, honey” he smiled. “What happened, why are you crying?”

You scoffed. “Do you care?” you asked, dropping the keys on the little table next to the door.

Your mother pulled you into a hug. “What happened, sweetie?”

You sniffled and pulled away. You sat on the couch next to her and sobbed. “Topper and Rafe beat up Pope, and me and JJ had this stupid, reckless idea to sink Topper’s expensive new boat, you know, for revenge. And Pope did it, and today Shoupe came in to try to arrest Pope because of felony destruction of property, and JJ stopped it, saying it was him, not Pope. And now… he’s in jail” you cried. “God, i should’ve gone with him. Now, I’m not sure if his dad is going to pay for bail, so he stays in jail until he’s 25, and if he does actually pay it… who knows what he’s gonna do to him?”

“Honey, don’t worry about your friend” William said, putting a hand on your back. “I’m sure he’ll be alright”

You stopped crying and stared at him. “A friend?” you asked.

“JJ was it?” he asked.

“You want me to call you ‘dad’ but you don’t even know how my friends are called? And if you were my dad, you’d know that JJ, he’s not just my friend, he’s…” you stopped in your tracks, what were you supposed to say? The love of your life? The boy you so wanna be with? “He’s JJ. You’d know that. There’s no other like him”

Your dad just sighed. “What do you expect me to do?”

“I don’t expect you to do anything, William! I just wanted a dad! Was that so much to ask? Mom and I’ve been busting our asses off to get food and supplies to live and you were nowhere to be seen for 14 years, William. 14! You never saw me take my first step, say my first word, I never got to talk to you about my first kiss, my first time-”

“First time?” your mom asked.

“That’s not the point here” you said. “What the point is… you’ll never… ever, get me to forgive you. That won’t be happening. Ever” you said shakily.

The guy stared at you.

“I think my mother forgave you, but don’t think for a second that I’ll do the same” you said, “You can ask John B and JJ who, by the way, those are my best friends since I was a kid, that I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life, to get to be with my dad. But unfortunately, I don’t see him here. Because my dad died when I was born. For me, William, you’re dead. You’re dead to me, and you’ll always be” your tears fell but your sobs died.

William sighed. 

“I’m actually gonna head up to Kie’s. Get ready for Midsummers, you, mom, have a great day” you said, smiling at your mom. “And you-“ you said, looking at William, your smile visibly dropping, “Don’t give me the  _ I’m-about-to-cry  _ bullshit. Nobody buys it” you said, and then left the house with a huff and shutting the door loudly. 

Your mom and William stared at each other. “She’s never going to forgive me, will she?”

Your mother shook her head. “No. I don’t see that coming, anytime soon”

William let a shaky breath, wiping his face. “I get that. I should’ve contacted you, to see how you were doing…“ he said. “By the way, is this JJ… her boyfriend or something like that?”

Your mother laughed. “You should see the way he looks at her. And how she looks at him. Those two will end up together if they’re not already” she laughed.

“I hope he treats her right” 

”He’s in love with her. I know that” your mother said. 

William sighed and wiped his hands on his pants. “Well, I seem like I’m unwanted here. She yelled at me again, you and I talked more so… I’ll go” he said.

Your mother stood up and hugged him. “Y/N will talk to you, I’m sure. She’s tough but… she’s human, Will”

The guy nodded and exited the house.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Back at Kie’s house, you didn’t know what dress you were going to put for Midsummers. Yeah, Kie always invited you to it because you loved fancy parties and hooking up with foreign. This year you were doing the first thing, not the last one. After what happened with JJ yesterday, you weren't going to dare to kiss somebody else.

“Kie… help me out” you said. “Your dresses are all beautiful but like I said,  _ your _ dresses” you said looking at yourself in a green floral dress. “I don’t fit in them”

She sighed, dropping her phone on the bed. “You’re gorgeous, Y/N. Here, I bought this one for you today. Figured I’d make up for what happened with your Romeo earlier” she said handing you a black dress.

“Thank you” you said, stretching the dress. It was simple, black, but you loved it. It suited your chest nicely and it was short, it highlighted all your tan that you collected. You went to the bathroom to put it on and then came out with it. “What do you think?” you asked.

Kie gasped when she saw you. “Almost perfect, we need to wave a little your hair and then… the floral crown. And then makeup, of course” she said. 

She handed you one, and grabbed the curling iron from her dresser. 

“Just a couple, I’m actually afraid of those” you said, referring to the curling iron.

“Never saw one, huh?” Kie said, rolling your hair on it.

You laughed, shaking your head. “I live in the cut, Kie, remember? I barely know what a refrigerator is”

She laughed. And then it died down. “You think that we’re going to get those 400 mil?”

You smiled “I do, actually. I have faith in John B”

“Me too”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


When you reached the party, you went to find Pope with Kie grasping your arm. “Excuse me sir. Do we have to shuck these ourselves? Cause it might mess up my costume” Kie said with a terrible english accent, smiling.

You weren’t so smiley, worrying about the blonde. Pope chuckled. 

“We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” Pope smiled. 

“That accent was bad” you said, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. 

“It was. I was gonna let it go” Kie said laughing. 

You sighed looking at the awfully-rich environment formed. “You ever seen so many kooks in one place?” you asked. 

“Yeah” pope said, flipping the burgers. “Last year” he said and you snorted, laughing at him.

“We’re in the lion’s den,” Kie said. 

You sighed, running your hands over your hair. “Hey, have you heard from JJ?” you asked Pope, and he shook his head. 

“He’ll be alright. He’s got the survival instincts of a cockroach” Kie said, rubbing your arm. 

“It’s all my fault” Pope said.

“No, you didn’t do this Pope.  _ We _ gave you the idea” you said. 

“Topper almost killed you, remember?” Kiara said. 

Suddenly, claps were heard catching your attention. Ward and his entire family came in. “Here comes Lord Capital and the Exploiters” Kie said. 

Rose Cameron came with a crown that looked like sharp barbs.

“She’s gonna poke somebody’s eye out with that” Pope joked.

You snorted. “Hopefully mine, I can’t stand seeing her. The fakeness she carries in her whole body disgusts me” you said. 

They all laughed while you sipped on your drink.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


JJ and John B got out of the HMS Pogue, suits with them, ready to slip into Midsummers.

“Ready?” JJ asked. 

“Can you believe this Midsummers shit, man?” John B asked. 

“Of course I can. Happens every year. No matter how screwed up the rest of us are” JJ said. 

John B sighed. “Well, Kie and Y/N go every year” he said.

“Yeah, Y/N goes as Kie’s date, they always do that” JJ explained.

“Yeah, but for me it feels like treason. We aren’t kooks, we’re Pogues, we don’t attend to fancy galas, man” he said.

“She deserves it, alright? She deserves to get all dressed up and have a night where she can pretend to be rich and not freaking poor like us” JJ defended you. ”She’s your sister, I thought you got that” 

He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Anyways, so what’s the plan, exactly?” JJ asked.

“Okay, look, I need you to get this to Sarah” John B said.

JJ arched an eyebrow. “Ohh, can I read it?”

“No, you can’t read it” he protested. 

“Who’s Vlad?” JJ asked, reading the note, causing John B to huff in annoyance.

“God, do you ever listen?” John B said. 

JJ finally connected dots. “Hold up, are you macking Sarah Cameron?” 

“Would you shut up”

“You’re macking Sarah Cameron!” he stated. 

“Look, I’m doing it for everybody, all right? Plus, you’re macking on my sister, so shut the hell up” John B said.

JJ whistled. “I wish I was macking on her- ow!” he said once John B punched his shoulder. JJ sighed.

“What?’

“Nothing man, thanks for being a team player, bro” JJ said. 

“Yeah well…” 

JJ dropped his stuff to the ground and took off his shirt to put on the white button up one. He stared at John B putting on his bow tie. 

He chuckled. “Y/N will like seeing you like this” he said. JJ smirked at that.

“So, I just give that to Sarah? Huh?” he asked.

“Yes, just give it to Sarah” John B replied. 

“Vlad, really?” 

John B started looking through JJ’s bag and found the gun. “Are you kidding me?”

The blonde shook his head. “No, I’m not kidding you”

“If you get caught, you’re going to jail” John B said. 

JJ took off his cap. “Fine, but if I get ambushed, it’s on you” he warned him.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You and Kie started dancing to the music, twirling each other and laughing with glasses of very expensive champagne on your hands. 

JJ was trying to get into Midsummers dressed as a waiter. “I keep finding glasses way down the beach, do me a favor and keep them corralled, will ya?” he asked to a security guard. “I thought you were security” 

JJ was looking for Sarah and then suddenly felt a pair of hands on his back. 

“Y/N- Pope?” he said disappointed. “Dude, don’t sneak up on me like that” 

Pope threw his arms around him in a tight hug, JJ grunting in surprise. 

JJ’s eyes widened. “Woah, unexpected PDA there, Dr. Spock” he chuckled. He pulled away from the boy slightly. “But hey-” he kissed the boy’s cheek, “love you too, man”

“Dude, I’m sick over all this shit, man” POpe said.

“You’re sick? You don’t seem sick”

“Sick on the inside” Pope said. 

He nodded. “Right, well I already knew that” 

Pope looked at his wounded face. “Did Shoupe do that?” 

He looked at him and tried to think something else rather than mention his dad, he opted for telling the truth. “Oh, this? No, it’s my dad-- You know? Has that right jab? Can really snap it off sometimes”

“That looks more than a jab, bro”

“It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before“ JJ said. 

Pope sighed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken the fall like this, it’s my fault, okay?”

“No, Pope”

“Yes, it is, I’m gonna tell the cops the truth and-”

“Pope, shut up” he said grabbing his face. “For once in your life, trust someone else. John B and I got it all sorted out. We’re gonna be filthy rich man” he smirked. “We’re back in the G-game baby”

Pope’s eyes widened. “G-game? I thought we lost the game” he said. 

“Yeah, well, we’re in overtime now” he responded. “Fourth and one, baby”

A hand on JJ’s shoulder made both startle, but they noticed it was only you.

“J?” you smiled.

He threw his hands around you pulling you into a very tight hug. Pope patted JJ’s back and got back to his place, handing burgers to the rich.

“I thought you were going to be locked away forever” you sighed. A few tears slipped from your eye. “I’ve been worried sick, couldn’t you at least text me? ‘I’m fine’ or ‘Let’s smoke weed’ whatever” you chuckled. His hands brushed up and down your body, comfort hugged your body. He chuckled back and you pulled away.

“Wow, baby, you look…” he said, his eyes widening.

You smiled and looked down, suddenly nervous, with a little flush creeping up your cheeks.

“So beautiful” he smiled.

You stayed close to him, his hands on your waist and yours on his face. “J… your face? Did they do that in--?” you asked.

“No, no, baby it’s alright” JJ said.

You arched an eyebrow. “Maybank, don’t dare to lie to me” you said sternly.

He sighed. He really couldn’t keep secrets from you. 

“It was your dad, wasn’t it?” you asked trembly. He didn’t answer, suddenly ashamed of it. “Come here” you said, pulling him into another hug. “I love you, J, okay? You got me” you said. 

“I know, I love you too, babe” he said, kissing the side of your face. He pulled away slightly, your faces really close. “As much as I’d love to continue this lovely chat, my dear, I have to deliver a message to someone” he said.

“Message?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later then” he kissed your cheek and continued walking to the party. “I’ll explain, later” 

You stared at him, your eyes following him. Suddenly he approached… Sarah? What the hell was JJ doing with Sarah? He handed him a note and winked at her. What if he was seeing Sarah? Your eyes suddenly caught Rafe stopping JJ dead in his tracks.  _ Shit _ , you thought. You tried to follow him in case he needed to be rescued. He started running and you got inside the house, to follow them. You got inside of the men’s restroom, luckily it was empty. You saw JJ running past the hallway and you grabbed his arm pulling him inside. 

“Y/N?” he asked, panting. You put a hand on his mouth.

“I’m saving your ass” you whispered. 

You heard footsteps and Rafe and his friends’ voices. 

“To the stall” JJ whispered.

You ran to one, locking yourselves in it.

“Maybank, you here?” Rafe asked, knocking on one of the stalls. “Don’t be a pussy and come on out” 

You took a deep breath and looked at JJ who was staring at you, his eyes dark. You bit your lip and tried to look the other way. 

“Rafe, he’s not here” Kelce said.

You smiled at JJ. “Yeah, you’re probably right” he said. “Let’s go guys”

When you heard the door shutting, you let out a sigh of relief and so did he.

“Woah, shit, that was close” you said.

He smiled. “It was” he said, and let his eyes travel all over your body. “By the way” he started and you looked at him. “You look absolutely beautiful tonight. I mean it” he said.

Your heart soared in your chest. 

“You think?” you asked.

“I know so” he said, taking a step closer to you. Due to the small amount of space in the stall, he was practically towering you, centimeters apart. 

You cleared your throat and dared to look into his blue eyes. 

“Well--” you said, looking him up and down, and then back to his eyes. “I think this suit looks real good on you” you said, trailing a hand over the loose buttons of the shirt, touching his hot skin.

He literally couldn’t wait anymore.

He closed the space between you and kissed you, you gasped in surprise but kissed him back quickly, putting your arms around his neck, while he put his around your waist pulling you closer. Kissing him felt _euphoric_ , you couldn't believe this was happening right now. Then, you remembered the Pogues, and that _goddamned_ rule. 

You pulled away. “This is a bad idea” you whispered.

He kissed you once, twice, and a third time. “I don’t care” he whispered hotly. 

And to be honest, neither did you.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The moment you've been waiting for!! :)


	10. Lover

His hands found your waist, squeezing it tightly. Your mouths moved in sync and a sigh left your lips. It felt so good, and so right. And him, well, he was jumping all around in his mind. He moved you so that you were pushed up against the wall of the bathroom stall. You grabbed his jaw, kissing him deeply. His tongue brushed against your lip and you opened your mouth so that your tongues fused together.

You continued making out with him, your hands going to tangle in his blonde hair. One of his hands trailed your side, rubbing it up and down. All of a sudden, his hand came in touch with your bare thigh, coming up inside your dress, squeezing your bare ass. That made you moan against his mouth, kissing him more forcefully, your breath leaving your lungs in a rush.

His lips left yours and started to trail kisses down your neck, sucking, marking a hickey on your neck. You tried to contain your moan but when he squeezed your ass again, you were a helpless fool. “JJ, fuck” you whispered, your forehead coming to rest at his shoulder.

He smirked proudly at your reaction and his lips came back to cover yours. A few minutes later you pulled away, your foreheads leaning to rest against each other. You bit your lip and giggled. 

“We’re in trouble” he whispered. You smiled and kissed him again.

You pulled away and sighed. “The guys might be asking for us, let’s go back to the party” 

You grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the stall. You reached the corner, inside of the lockers room and found Rafe and his goons, smirking at you two. 

“Hey, you, what are you doing here?“ Rafe said.

JJ tried to pass through them grabbing your wrist but he was pushed against Rafe’s chest, who pushed him to Kelce’s chest.

Rafe grabbed you and held you like Kelce was holding JJ, with his arm around your neck. “Rafe, let go of me, you fucker” you said, trying to kick his groin, but failing. 

“You, let her go” JJ said yelling.

“You want me to do this?” Rafe said trailing a hand over your face. You gasped trying to hit him but failing miserably. 

“Let her go!” he yelled.

Rafe chuckled and looked at your neck, pointing at the big hickey JJ had left on you. “Well, take a look at this. Are you into sharing?” he asked JJ.

“Fuck you” you hissed.

Rafe pushed you against one of his other bullies, that grabbed you, holding you still.

“Hold him still” Rafes said to Kelce, “What-- what do you think? A four iron, right?” he asked you.

“Fuck you, let him go” you said trying to break out of the guy’s arms. 

“Keep his head still, I’m gonna line up” Rafe said, imitating a golf pose.

“Very Rafe of you. Five on two?” JJ said, trying to break out of Kelce’s grip. 

“If you could please stop talking?” rafe said. “It’s very disrespectful, I’m trying to hit a ball. Learn your etiquette my friend” 

You still tried to fight the guy holding you. “Let me go- ah” you yelled. 

“Your face looks really bad. Starting to look like your dad a lot more” Rafe said.

You gasped, trying to break out from the guys grasp. “Shut up” you yelled.

JJ spit at Rafe right in the face. He stood straight surprised.

“Oh shit” he said, wiping his face. 

Suddenly a security guard came into view. The guy let go of you, pushing you against JJ, who grabbed you, putting you behind him.

“Gentleman!” the guy said. “Is there a problem here?”

“Pardon me officer, no, there’s not an issue. I just-- “ JJ started but you cut him off.

“Actually yes, there is an issue, uh, we got criminal trespass in progress here-” you said, trying to get JJ to get the idea.

“Oh, yeah, Beep! Call it in, right?” JJ said. “Blatant disrespect of private property. We’re in violation of all kinds of shit, sir” he said. You nodded along. “But these young gentlemen-” he said, touching Kelce’s tie.

“Dont touch my shit.” 

“They got us, sir. They caught us, and they’re about to take us away” you said. 

“And that’s what you should do, escort us right out of here” JJ continued. The security guard grabbed you both and led you out of the bathrooms. “All right, fix that tie, son” he yelled at Kelce. “You lookin’ spiffy too”

“You Powerpuff Girls have fun” you said. 

“Hey, Y/N, you look pretty hot for a Pogue” Rafe said.

JJ broke out of the security guard’s grasp and went to punch him. Kelce got him along with the guard. 

“Don’t you dare talk about her!” JJ yelled. “You think I’m afraid of you, bro?”

The guard took you both out of the bathrooms. “Hey, safe travels back to the cut” Rafe yelled.

“Suck my dick” you yelled at him.

“This ain’t over” JJ yelled back at him. 

“Hey, hey it was nice seeing you again, JJ!” Rafe said. “You too, Y/N”

They pushed you past the doors really harshly. “Look, man we can walk by ourselves!” JJ yelled.

You huffed, this seemed like a deja vu, getting kicked out of parties with JJ. “Deja vu, huh, J?”

“Was thinking the same thing, babe” he said. Butterflies flying through your stomach, the ‘babe’ sank deeper now that you know how he kisses. 

“We got legs, don’t you see, brother” you said to the guard. 

“I really appreciate what you did back there, let us just walk by ourselves” he said.

The guard shook you, almost making you trip. “Hey, I got heels, be careful!” you said. 

“Oh, Mr. Dunleavy, I see you got your drink. Good that’s really nice of you. I’m actually gonna down that” he said, grabbing the drink and drinking it till the last drop.

“JJ! What about sharing?” you cried.

“Sorry!”

“I really appreciate the discretion, Daryl“ You told the guard.

“It’s okay, everybody, do not panic!” JJ started yelling. You huffed and closed your eyes, a little embarrassed by everyone looking at you and JJ right now. “Leave it to the men and women in uniform. Let’s hear it for them, Rose! You look like Lady Liberty. It’s good to see you again”

“Hey, buddy, can I have one of those?” you asked, but the guard grabbed you back. “I’m hungry”

“Let go of them!” Kie yelled. “You can’t just boot them, I invited them” she yelled. You looked at your friend and saw Rafe, Kelce and his other friends beside her. 

“Kiara, stop it” her mom said.

“I’m a member of this club” Kie continued.

JJ suddenly pushed him, making the guard stumble and crash on the glasses, shattering on the floor. You winced grabbing JJ. “What the hell”

“Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon’s, Kie“ JJ yelled. “Pope you as well, right? Rixon’s Cove, let’s roll” 

“Kie, come on” you yelled.

“Workers of the world unite” JJ yelled back at her. 

“Throw off your chains!” you said.

“Colonel” JJ said, facing John B. “Mission accomplished, sir” 

You saw Kie running towards you and you caught her. She looked at your neck and smirked. “I’ll explain later”

JJ opened his arms for you and you threw yourself on him, he twirled you around and deposited you on his shoulder for some moments. You laughed, patting his back. You looked at his face, and bit your lip. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


All of you were reunited in the forest, a bonfire in the middle. You had taken out your heels depositing them beside you. JJ had changed his clothes to his normal cargo shorts and shirt. “Agh, these heels just murdered my feet”

“Hey, guys, so, like, my dad’s already gonna kill me. So what’s this mandatory meeting about?” Pope said.

“Might as well tell him, man, before we get gaffed” he said.

Your eyebrows furrowed, “what does that mean?” you asked.

“You ready for this?” John B asked. You nodded your head. 

John B arched his eyebrows mysteriously. “So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant”

“Oh God, here we go again with this” Pope groaned.

JJ sat up straight. “No, all right. Wait. hear him out, all right?” JJ said.

John B put a finger over his lips. “It’s been here this whole time… it’s on the island”

“You’re serious?” you asked him. 

“Oh my God” Kie said. 

“I’d like to voice my skepticism” Pope said in truly nerdy fashion. 

“I’m sure you would, Pope” you snorted.

“Can I please present you with my evidence, sir?” John B said, standing up to grab his backpack. 

Pope looked at him. “Proceed”

“All right, so in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny” he said, showing a piece of folded paper that looked older than Outer Banks itself. 

“Who the hell’s that” you asked.

“Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck” he said. “Check this out” he said, handing you the letter.

You checked out the letter, Kie coming to sit beside you to look at it too. 

“Okay, slaves weren’t mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery” he explained to all of you. “So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom.”

You whistled, handing the letter to John B, but JJ grabbed it. 

“He bought his farm and…” John B said, “Drumroll, please-” you slapped your knees, mimicking a drumroll, “And that farm is Tannyhill plantation”

“Tannyhill?” Kie asked. 

“Yeah, so after that, he used his money to free even more slaves and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off the white planters and then, they decided to lynch him”

You grimaced. “Yikes”

Pope and Kie looked at his friend. “So on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of the letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold”

Your eyes widened and smiled when he came closer to you. “Where?”

“Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except… there’s no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out. The gold is in parcel nine, near the water”

“Holy shit” Pope said, looking at the letter. 

“All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we’ve found the gold” John B said excitedly.

“Okay, so, this might have a small chance of being actually true” Pope said. 

JJ stood up and went to hug John B. 

“I am a genius, hey- woah!” he moaned when JJ lifted him up off the ground. “Hello! Fire! You’re near the fire, you’re gonna burn” 

“I’m so proud of you right now” JJ said.

“Thank you, that’s really sweet of you” John B said, placing a hand on JJ’s cheek.

“Okay, guys, so what’s the plan?” Pope asked.

“Good question” John B said. “So, Sarah Cameron is coming tonight, she’ll bring an original survey map-”

You laughed when he mentioned Sarah. 

“Whoa, hold on. Sarah, wh-why Sarah?” Kie asked.

“Hanged for treason” you whispered, JJ chuckling. 

“This is gonna be good” JJ said, taking out his cap. 

John B sighed. “Sarah uh… she… she got me into the archives of Chapel Hill yesterday, and that’s where I got the letter” 

“You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?” Kie yelled.

“Hanged for treason” you sing-song again.

“He was macking on her” JJ said. 

John B pursed his lips, looking anywhere but Kie’s eyes. “I wasn’t mackin on-”

“You were totally macking Sarah Cameron” JJ said. 

“I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access” He explained.

“There was access, okay” you said. 

“Did you tell her about the treasure?” Kie asked.

“I was just trying to get into the archives,” John B said.

”Is that a yes?” Kie asked again.

“I-- I left out details” 

“Yo, what?” the girl asked, yelling. “You let a kook into our secret?”

“What about Pogue Lyfe?” you asked, getting annoyed too.

“What about the company t-shirt, bro?” Kiel beside you asked, nodding with you. 

“I was just using her for information” he said.

“Why don’t I believe you?” Kie said.

You bit your lip, watching the scene. JJ came to sit beside you, sending you a smile. 

“I’m trying to make us filthy rich, here” John B dfended. “Okay, so we can pay off a boat, or-- uh send you to autopsy school, to study dead bodies” he pointed at Pope. “Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the kind of person to fall for Sarah Cameron”

“Uh... “ JJ said.

“Do you actually want us to answer that question?“ you asked.

“Just-- just stop”

“Look, you don’t know her yet, I do!” Kie said. “You can’t trust her”

“Her brother did hit me in the back of a golf club” Pope said.

“Rafe and Sarah are different human beings” John B said.

“What did she do to you, exactly?” JJ asked to Kie.

Kie sighed. “She’s like a-- like a spitting cobra. First, she blinds you, and then--“

“This is a bad analogy” POpe said. 

“Listen to me” Kie yelled. “Whatever we get, she’s gonna try to take” 

“Hanged for treason” you continued, JJ slapped his hand in your thigh gently, making you stop. “Sorry”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You were in the van a couple of minutes later. John B stopped near a wood building, and got out of the van. “All right, hit it boys! We’re going, Recon mission” JJ said.

“Yo, uh, so… i think I’m gonna do this one by myself… tonight” John B said.

Your eyes widened. “Use protection” you said. Kie looked at you, eyes spitting fire. “Sorry”

“Really? 

“What?”

”Nothing bro,” JJ said,

“I don’t want to spook Sarah with the peanut gallery ” John B said. 

“I just don’t understand why we’re involving her at all” Kie yelled. 

John B sighed. “Kie, we’re not involving her, okay?”

“It’s just uh… uh, like a business meetings”

JJ used his blunt to mimic giving a head, you and Pope laughed at him.

“Look, once we get what we need, we cut her loose, all right?” John B said.

“If you say so” you sighed.

“Promise me nothing’s happening between you two” Kie said.

“Nothing is happening, Kie” 

“I’m being serious, this isn’t about you and this isn’t about us” she said. “It’s about her. Dude she’s gonna get inside your head. Just promise me nothing’s happening between you guys” 

“I promise“

You looked at JJ, and he looked at you right back. You pursed your lips and look away, flushed remembering the kiss previously. 

“That was really believable,” you said trying to break the tension.

“A hundred percent believable” Pope agreed with you. 

“I’m gonna take care of business,” John B said. 

“You’re gonna take care of it” JJ said.

“I tell you“ you said. “We’re gonna just sit here…”

“In the hot-ass car, while it’s lighting” pope said, and you nodded.

John B got out of the car, while you looked at Kie who had a pensive face on her.

“Kie, don’t worry about him, if he promised you he wouldn’t, he won’t” you said, grabbing her arm, rubbing soothing circles on her.

“Yeah, I know, I worry that’s it” she said, her voice trailing off. “What we need to talk about is… that thingy in your neck”

“What thing?” Pope asked.

“It’s nothing” you said, trying to appeal nonchalantly.

Kie smirked, and then looked at JJ who was too busy ‘inspecting’ his blunt. Her eyes widened and you shushed her wordlessly. 

“Let’s go talk outside” Kie said, opening the door.

You went outside and left the two boys alone.

“What the hell? Did you-”

“Make out with him?” you asked, she nodded. You sighed, running a hand through your hair, looking around nervously. “ I kinda did, yeah”

She gasped. 

“But don’t say anything. I did it cause Rafe and his fuckers were following us and I had the idea of trying to get us unnoticed by locking ourselves in the bathroom and then when we thought they were away, he kissed me”

“Oh Em Gee! This is huge. Was he gentle? Or was he like, ‘fuckboy JJ’? ” Kie asked laughing, making you laugh too.

“Oh, Kie, it was amazing. He’s really a sweetheart” you said. “Like… I don’t know it wasn’t sloppy or anything“ you said, your face growing hotter by the second. 

Back in the car, Pope looked outside the window and looked at JJ.

“You macked on her, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah” JJ said.

He nodded. “How was it?”

JJ sighed. “Amazing”

“Yeah, her neck just told me everything” Pope said sarcastically. “But what about the no Pogue-on-pogue macking rule?” 

JJ looked at him and sighed. 

“John B’s not gonna like that” Pope said.

You two came over to the van again, drawing the attention of the two boys. Suddenly they heard the words ‘someone help!´.

“You guys heard that?” you asked. 

The thunder made noise again and then they heard Sarah’s voice ‘somebody help, please’

“Oh, shit I heard that” JJ said and they all scrambled off the van.

You ran over to where John B was supposed to be and saw Sarah holding John B’s head.

“Oh shit, Sarah what happened?” you yelled, seeing your brother lying on the grass. 

“I don’t know what to do. He needs help, Topper shoved him“ Sarah cried.

_ Topper? _ You looked around and saw the dirty kook looking at the scene. 

“Where the hell is he?” JJ asked.

“Just please get help, I don’t care who, just call someone” Sarah panted. 

“Go! Go!” JJ patted Pope’s back frantically. 

“Pope hurry!“ you yelled after him. 

“John B stay with me” Sarah said. You and Kie shared looks. This was pretty weird, why the hell was she crying over John B? Then she kissed his lips, the tears falling to his face. Your eyes widened. Well, John B would be in big trouble if he wasn’t passed out. “Please don’t leave me” she continued. 

“Pope! Come on!“ JJ yelled. 

You grabbed your forehead, not knowing what to do, and JJ’s arm pulled your waist, bringing you closer. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


After the tragic fall of John B, they drove him to the hospital and you offered JJ a place to stay due to his dad. He got beaten by him and you didn’t want him near him again. At least for a little while.

You sighed opening your bedroom door. “Well, today was hell, huh?” you said plopping down on the bed. 

He chuckled. “It was” he said, sitting down with you. 

You looked at his face, and traced the wounds with your fingers. He leaned into your touch, his lips left a breath out. “What did he say?”

JJ pursed his lips. “He paid 30k for my bail, and then proceeded to...” he said, gesturing to his face. 

You were taken aback, your hand falling to its previous place. “30?” you asked, and he nodded. “30 grand, jeez”

“Yeah, and he told me that I needed to pay it back, and all I did was smoke weed, hangout with you on the southside,” he said.

You sighed. “You know that’s not your fault right? There’s literally no excuse for what he does to you” you said. 

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I sometimes wish…” he trailed off. “I almost killed him” he said quietly.

“You what?”

He bit his lip and scratched his neck sheepishly. “I… I grabbed the gun, and aimed at his forehead. I didn’t do it, I just… I was so angry. I could’ve killed him, Y/N” he said.

“Oh, J” you said, hugging him. You took off his cap, to run your fingers through your hair. 

His hands danced across your back, making you sigh. “I wish I could take your pain away, I mean it” you whispered.

He pulled away and tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear. He looked at your eyes and then to your lips. You did too and wet them without realizing.

JJ leaned in and left a soft, little peck on them. You looked at his eyes, he leaned again and left another one. Then he tilted his head, to leave one on your cheek, then your jaw and then your neck. He started kissing you softly on your neck, just pecks. You ran your hands to his hair, and sighed.

“I… J'' you said. You bit your lip, his kisses continue, his hands roaming all over your body. “JJ, wait” you said, remembering the no-pogue-on-pogue rule, that strict rule John B had established. He pulled away so little, his nose was brushing against yours. He left a small kiss on your lips that made your heart melt. “J, what about the no-pogue-on-pogue macking rule?”

“I don’t kiss and tell” he said, rubbing your thighs. 

God, you were about to give in when the sudden image of John B yelling at you clouded your mind. You sat up, leaving the boy on your bed. “This is bad, what if John B finds out, like, we’re his oldest friends, and like, Kie told me that he made that rule- because of us!” you started to ramble and JJ stood up laughing. “It’s not funny”

“You’re cute” he said.

“No, I’m not cute, J” you whined.

He nodded. “You’re right, you’re not cute, you’re hot” he said, he wasn’t smiling this time.

You looked at him and then sighed. “Are we really doing this?” 

He took a step closer to you, towering you and nodded.

A couple of minutes later, you were pressed up against your bedroom door by JJ, your lips not leaving his one moment. Your tongues danced together in the most heated kiss ever. Your hands left his neck, to wander to his hair, pulling it roughly with your fingers. He groaned and grabbed your ass, squeezing it firmly with his fingers. You pulled away to kiss his way down his neck, leaving a purple hickey, just like he did with you. He pulled at the strap of your dress down, and left a few hot open-mouthed kisses on your shoulder. 

You frantically grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling the fabric off his body, leaving him shirtless, his abs looking freaking good in the moonlight. Your hands wandered to his chest, feeling his abs, while he kissed you again, his hand fisting on your hair while the other went under the thin black dress you were wearing. 

JJ grabbed the hem of your panties, and as he was pulling them down, you heard a knock on your back, making both of you freeze in your spot. You pulled away with a sigh, looking over your shoulder. 

“Y/N, is everything alright?” your mother asked, you noticed the slight slur.

You sighed, trying to take a breath. “Yeah, mom, everything’s fine“

“Oh, okay” she slurred and then a hiccup left her lips. “I’m… I love you”

“She’s drunk” you whispered to him, laughing. 

He laughed back and then noticed that his hands were still grabbing your panties that were in the middle of your leg. JJ grabbed them to pull them into place. You looked at him and locked eyes with him. 

He placed a kiss on your lips. “I’ll… I’ll go home, alright?” JJ said.

You were nervous now, and you hated it. “You sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. You need to help your mom and-”

“You’re right” you nodded stepping back. He grabbed his shirt and put it on again. You straightened out your dress, and opened the door of your bedroom. 

You opened the front door of your house, JJ stepping outside. “I’ll- I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?” you said.

He nodded and stepped closer to you, leaving a lingering kiss on your lips, a hand resting on the small of your back. You put your arms around his neck, sighing into the kiss. You pulled away.

“Bye” he said, rubbing your nose with his a little.

“Bye” 

He stepped back and walked home. You smiled and watched him leave. You sighed and closed the door, leaning against it. You squealed a little and then heard a crash from your mother’s room.

“I’m okay” you heard. You laughed and went to help her.

JJ, on his way back, smiled and touched his neck, remembering the hickey you left on it. “Nice” he smiled. He didn’t stop smiling until he fell asleep. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things got steamier, I know 🥵


	11. Gold Rush

The next day, the four Pogues (except you) were reunited at the Wreck. John B was trying to get Kie to talk to him but she was way too angry with him, because of the Sarah thing. 

“I’m sorry, you’re staying where?” she asked.

“Tannyhill” John B responded.

She left her tray, and looked at him. “So you’re living with Sarah Cameron”

She grabbed the drinks and put them on the tray, walking down to where the boys were sat. “Okay, look, the only reason I’m living there is because her dad bailed me out, right? And it’s way better than foster care, which by the way, is where I was about to go if Ward didn’t--”

“Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs, now?” Pope asked. 

“I don’t know, Pope”

“What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?“ JJ asked.

You entered The Wreck, little smile playing on your lips, walking to the table. “Are you guys talking about JB’s new kook life?” you giggled, looking at him. “Ah, cool you have a cast” you said pointing at it.

Kie handed you a cup of water. 

“Yeah, we are” JJ said. You looked at him and he winked at you. You just smirked at him and then looked at your friend. He then started walking towards you and your heart started beating fast. 

“Does it come with a sweater- vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?” Pope asked, hands behind his head.

Kie sighed. “Look you promised, you said you weren’t with her”

JJ’s hands came in contact with your waist, making you jump lightly but you didn’t turn around. 

“Bro, just own it, she’s got you” he said. 

“Look, if you wanna hang out with her, that’s fine” Kie said, “but I’m letting you know now that I’m not doing anything with Sarah” she said.

“Do you guys see her here?” John B asked. “No, right, okay? A little focus would be fantastic. We got the map, right?” he said.

“It’s out of whack cause the guy was ganja’d when he drew it“ JJ said.

You looked up at him. “It’s cause the coast has changed, dumbass” He nodded, like he was learning something new.

“So we just have to look for landmarks that haven’t changed” Pope said. 

“What about the old forts?” JB asked.

“Battery Jasper” Kie said suddenly. 

Turned out Battery Jasper wasn’t the place you were looking for. You were in the van now, heading to the other destinations the map had. 

“Okay, so the road should split up here” Pope said.

JJ came closer to you and whispered in your ear. “I missed you” he said.

You bit your lip trying to contain the smile. You grabbed his hand and placed it on your thigh. He looked at you, rubbing up and down your thigh. You put your head on his shoulder and sighed. 

“All right, you’re gonna take a left” Pope continued giving out instructions. 

You stopped once you looked up to a big stone wall.

“That looks like a stone wall to me” JJ said.

All of you took a deep breath. This was it. The time where you got the gold.

“This is it” You said.

You got out of the van and noticed it was the Crain House, the place where a crazy lady lived, stories that kids tell are about this woman that has an axe and murders the ones who get in her house.

“Not the Crain House” John B said.

Kie got closer to the door and sighed. “Are you kidding me?”

“Worst-case scenario” JJ said.

You walked up to the entrance and looked around, you had a very bad experience with this place, and it was giving you the creeps. 

“Why’d it have to be here…“ you said. “Of all places”

“I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband’s head on the property” JJ said. 

You got inside of the property, and started looking around. You started shivering because you were afraid of what would happen if crazy Crain found you. 

“Look, you guys know whose house it is, right?” Kie said. 

“Oh, yeah. No, I do” JJ said, walking around.

“Honestly I don’t really believe the stories about this place“ John B said. Pope shushed him and you turned around, looking at your brother. 

JJ got closer to Kie. “What stories did you hear?”

“The one where she killed her husband with an axe” Kie said. “And that she’s been holed up ever since”

“Okay, that’s it, I’m out” you said but John B caught you. 

“No, no, no” he said, making you walk forward again. 

You groaned and you wanted to cry. Why, of all places, the gold had to be here?

“On certain nights when the moon is full you can see her in the window” she said, scaring you.

You whined, hiding your face with your hands.

“No, Kie is not funny, cause it’s all true” JJ said.

“Could you stop scaring me?” you said. JJ draped an arm to your waist, pulling you closer.

”I swear to God, guys, is all real. I knew Hollis” JJ said. You looked at him, surprised as hell. JJ turned around with you and you both got scared of a big ass creepy statue. “Jeez” he said.

“Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?” you asked. 

“Yeah“

“How do you know Hollis Crain” Pope asked, now getting scared too.

“She was my babysitter, man, she told me all about it. Told me the truth about her mother” JJ said. “And what happened in the house”

“I wanna cry” you said.

“So, as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father and she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn’t believe it… until that night” JJ said mysteriously.

“What night?” you asked.

“It all came back to her” 

You sighed. “Look, JJ if this is all a plan to make me shit in my pants, I’m out of here” you said wiping your face.

“No, baby, I swear to God” JJ said. He turned around and looked at the statue. “When Hollis was 6 years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs, so she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink… full of blood. Her mother just says she cut her finger. The next morning she says her father and her split up. But then Hollis noticed something, her mother going to the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse. And as she’s using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse is her father’s head looking straight back at her”

“God, you are so full of shit” John B said.

You just stood there, trying to not collapse of the fear running to your body. 

“Dude, I swear to God, man” JJ tried. 

“Did she call the police?” you asked.

“She didn’t have time“ JJ said.

John B ignored you and walked past you. “Wait hold on, we can’t go in there” you said to him.

“Dude, what” he said.

JJ stopped looking at all of you.

“You sure you wanna do this?” JJ asked. “She’s an axe murderer. You got a cast on”

“I don’t give a shit if she’s an axe murderer okay?” he said. “I got nothing to lose, right? You coming or what?”

You sighed. “I’m so gonna regret this, but I’m with you”

He smiled at you and he started walking up to the house. JJ stood scratching his shoulder, rethinking what all of you were about to do. You grabbed his arm and walked next to him. You crouched down a little bit so you wouldn’t be seen.

“Come here” John B whispered. You looked at him, all on the ground. “So, here’s the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter”

“Okay, like what kind of water? Like, pond water?” Pope asked.

JJ chuckled. “Bong water?” he said, and you laughed with him. 

They all looked at you two with a face that screamed: shut up.

“No, it-- it just said look for water” John B said. 

Your eyebrows furrowed. “That’s like the shittiest secret message ever” you said.

“You wanna complain a little more, Y/N?” he asked.

“No, actually I do. We’re getting into a murderer’s house to look for something someone probably already took” you said.

“Nobody said it was going to be easy,“ John B said.

Pope looked at you and JJ. “I’ll search the northeast quadrant, you two search the norwest” Pope said.

“The decapitation quadrant” JJ said.

You grabbed his arm and pulled him to where you were told to look. He looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was looking and grabbed your hand, linking your fingers together. “Hey” he smiled. 

You giggled, a little flush creeping to your cheeks. 

“If I’m going to pass my last moments, at least I deserve a kiss, right?” JJ said. You looked around to see if anyone was looking and then placed your lips on his for a little kiss. “Wait, that’s not fair, I want a kiss, a real one” he said, cupping your face and kissing the breath right out of you.

You opened your mouth and welcomed his tongue, wrapping your arms around his middle, pulling him closer to you. You pulled away and looked at his neck.

“That’s some nice work I did on you, huh?” you smirked, rubbing your hands up and down his bare arms, that were uncovered with the cut out tank top he used. He touched his hickey and smiled, kissing you again. 

You pulled away and he continued to kiss your jawline. “Wait, we need to continue looking, babe” you said.

He groaned pulling away and continued walking, but never letting go of your hand.

“Hey, psst. Come on” you heard John B hissing through the tall grass, “It’s the only place we haven’t looked”

You got to where he was. John B stood next to a wooden door that was slightly open. JJ felt the leaves lightly caress his body and he jumped up, panicked. 

You got inside and looked around pointing around with your flashlights. 

“Down came Mrs. Crain, and cut off all out heads” JJ started to sing, “Up came the sun and dried up all the blood”

“Can you stop?” Pope asked. 

Water was nowhere to be seen. You looked around and saw creepy dolls on the floor, a broken cradle that had all the paint almost gone. Mosquitos were buzzing all around the five of you. 

“Another dead end?” Kie asked.

You touched a wooden shelf, looking for water. “There’s not even water on the pipes” you said, looking for even a wet trace but you found none.

“There’s no water here” Pope said.

“Not a dropamino” JJ said.

“Know why we didn’t find it?” Kie started. “Bad karma”

“Oh God, here we go” John B huffed.

“You know, we had a good thing going and then you decided to rope in Barbie, and now the trail’s gone dry” Kie said. “Coincidence? Probably not.”

“This is exactly why I didn’t wanna tell you about Sarah”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah” John B said. “What the hell’s the deal with you two?” 

“Nothing” Kie said.

“Nothing? Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?” John B said but was cut off by Kie slapping his cheek.

You winced. 

“Oh, dude” Pope said.

“Shit, I even felt that” you said.

“Shit, that echoed dude” JJ said.

“Stop treating me like I’m some girl that’s obsessed with you instead of being your best friend who’s actually trying to look out for you” she said.

You looked at Kie and nodded. “My girl’s right” you muttered.

“Did you, uh… hit me?’ John B said trying to process the whole ‘slap’ thing.

Kie held her hand up, showing the dead skeeter on her hand. “Skeeter.”

“Skeeter?”

“Yeah, you see it?”

“Yeah” he said and then slapped her.

You took a step. “Hey! Okay that was out of the line” you said.

“Where’s your proof” Kie said.

John B held his hand up, showing the mosquito that was splattered on the palm of his hand. They started punching each other. 

You felt a hand collide with your ass, slapping it. You yelped and looked at the one who slapped you, it was JJ, of course. He looked at you, like he didn’t do anything. You raised your eyebrow.

“Huh, these skeeters are terrible” he tried.

“Yeah, terrible” you said, sarcasm in your voice. 

You suddenly looked around and you noticed something. “Why are there so many mosquitos in a basement?” you asked, trying to swat them off.

“Dude, I know, seriously. Tiny vampire bats, just leave me alone. Oh my gosh, okay can we leave?” JJ started.

You tried to think why the hell was there so many mosquitos in a basement. The only reason that explained them was… water. Somewhere, it had to be. 

You stepped on a step that was covered in wood. You started to kick it, the sound was making an echo. 

“I just found Mrs. Crain’s voodoo doll, guys” JJ said. 

“Shut up” you said. 

You grabbed a little rock and let it fall through a tiny hole. It sounded like the rock fell to the water. You rushed up to stand up and tried to move the planks.

“Hey, Y/N, shh” JJ said.

“Help me move this. Now!”

“Okay, just quiet”

You all took off the planks and stared at the well, that had water at the end of it. 

“Told you” you said, smirking.

“Well, well, well” Pope smiled. 

“That was a good dad joke“ you said, looking at him.

You all stared at the well, like you couldn’t believe what you just found. 

“They built this part of the house right over it” Kie said.

“This is where she hid the bodies” JJ said.

“Oh dude, come on” You said, punching his shoulder.

“Stop,” kie said.

“No, I'm dead serious,” he said. “It was never an outhouse”

“She probably doesn’t even know it’s here” you said.

“We found water” Pope said, looking at John B.

“We’re gonna need a really big rope” JB said looking at the well.

“No effing way” Kie yelled.

You were at the Chateau once you came back from the Crain’s House. Sarah was there and John B had told you that Sarah was going to be apart of the plan.

“You brought her here? So what? She’s on this now?” Kie said irritated.

John B looked at you, Pope and JJ for approval. 

“I dunno” Pope said shrugging his shoulders. 

“Look, all I care about is her cut comes out of your share” JJ said. 

“Uh… I think the same” you said, trying not to get into the fight.

“You know, I don’t remember taking a vote” Kie said.

You sighed, this was way too much drama.

“This is our thing, a Pogue thing” Kie said.

“I gotta say, I’m just a tad uncomfortable with all of this” Pope said.

“Thank you” Kie yelled at him.

“When are you not uncomfortable?” John B asked.

“I don’t know, I rode here on the back of JJ’s bike pretty comfortably” he said.

“It’s true, most relaxed I’ve ever seen him” JJ piped in.

You laughed at him. 

“That’s cute, guys” John B muttered.

“You know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her” Kie said to John B. 

“Stop talking like I’m not here” Sarah interfered.

“Then leave!”

Sarah scoffed. “I told you”

“Told him what, exactly?” Kie said. “That you’re a liar”

“Well, may-” you tried but Sarah cut you off.

“No, Y/N. That you’re a shit-talking bitch” Sarah said to Kie, not even looking at you.

“Oh shit” Pope said, and you slapped his head lightly, so that he shut up.

“Me?” Kie laugehd.

“When have I lied?” Sarah asked.

“My money’s on Kie” JJ whispered to Pope. You looked at JJ sternly, and he slowly put his money back.

“You get somebody close to you--”

“I didn’t lie about shit-”

“Would everyone just shut up!” John B yelled. Everyone closed their mouths and looked at him. “Kie, you’re my best friend, right?” Kie just shrugged her shoulders, “And Sarah you’re…”

“Oh no” you whispered. 

“...You’re my…” John B muttered.

“Say it” Sarah whispered. 

You rolled your eyes and huffed.

“You’re my girlfriend” he said.

JJ and Pope whispered to each other. “Well, that’s new” Pope said.

“She’s your girlfriend, now?” You couldn’t help but ask. “What was all that talk about you were just using her for information? Get a map, cut her loose” you shrugged talking to your brother.

Sarah looked at John B with an unreadable expression on her face.

“You said you were using me?”

“No,” John B mumbled.

“Uh, yeah you did” Kie said.

“Yep” you confirmed.

“You said those things” JJ said.

“Look, love just walked in, okay?” John B said loudly.

“Oh, vomit” Kie muttered.

“I didn’t expect it, it just-- kind of happened, and I’m not going to deny it” 

John B and Sarah looked at each other. 

“Oh, that’s corny” Pope said.

“Look, cut the bullshit, John B” Kie said crossing her arms over her chest. “If she’s in, then I’m out”

John B sighed. You didn’t know which side you were on. For starters, you hated Sarah Cameron, but on the other side, Kie was being unfair to John B.

“Kie, I’m not going to do this, I can’t”

“You are gonna decide” Kie yelled at him. “I’m very interested, actually. Me or her?” 

“Both” he said without hesitation.

Pope whistled.

“Went for the Hail Mary” JJ said. 

Kie just turned on his heels and walked out of the Chateau’s porch. You sat there not knowing what to do or say. 

“It’ll be cool, right?“ Sarah said. “I’m gonna leave”

“Sarah don’t” he started

“Gonna let y’all chat” she said. “Let me know” and then she was gone.

“I just like to say, you handled that beautifully” JJ said, standing up.

You sighed. “Honestly, JB. I don’t know what to tell you. Out of all the kooks, you had to pick her?” you asked.

“You hate her too now?” Pope asked.

“No, I don’t have nothing personal with her, but I know what she did to Kie, and it’s not pretty, okay? Plus, you know how much she hates her” you said.

John B stood up and huffed. 

“You know that I promised to you when we were 7, that no matter what we did, we stood with each other. And I meant it” you said softly. He nodded and came over to hug you. “I just think that you have to talk Sarah into apologizing to Kie”

He looked at you. 

“Y/N, you’re a genius. I have an idea”

Pope got into the house after he begged you to leave him alone with Kie. You had offered immediately to go after her but Pope wanted to be the one for her this time. 

“What did she say?” John B asked, tossing him a bottle of water.

“That you’re an idiot” he said simply.

You laughed. “Of course”

“It’s a no-brainer. You’re picking Kie” JJ said opening the fridge, grabbing a beer and passing you one.

“Look, I can’t make a decision” John B said, sipping on his beer. 

You huffed, “yes you can, I’ll give you a hint, you can pick the one who didn’t date the one who tried to drown you” you said.

JJ nodded along with you.

“No, okay?”

“So what? We’re dead in the water because you’re pussy-whipped?” JJ asked.

“We can’t do this without Kie, and you know it” you said to him. 

“And I can’t do it without Sarah” he said.

You rolled your eyes. “You’ve been with her for, what? Five minutes, and you already can’t do this without her? We’ve been doing just fine without her” you said.

“They both have to be in it” John B insisted.

“Well, good luck with that” Pope said.

John B hopped off the counter. “You know what? This was all my fault, right? But it’s our problem” he said walking backwards. “And I got a plan, and you three shitheads are gonna help me out” 

You three looked at each other and shrugged. 

The next day, you were prepared for the little trap you put for Sarah and Kiara. 

“What the hell is going on?” Kie yelled as she walked down to the boat.

“JJ and John B conked out in the marsh okay?” you said. 

“Okay, well what does that have to do with me?” Kie said.

Kie got into the boat and you looked at Pope nodding.

“We need you for mechanical” he answered.

“Mechanical” she nodded, like she didn’t believe him.

You sped off to where the trap was located.

“John B and JJ are up in the Alp” you said. 

You reached the other boat where JJ and John B stood. “Can’t you guys do anything without me? Plus, didn’t JJ like Y/N when she gets all sweaty-mechanic?” she asked, remembering the drool on JJ’s face when John B’s van broke down and you had helped him with it. 

JJ whistled. “You’re right but… you know how to handle it better?” JJ tried to make an excuse so that she got in the boat.

Kie stepped into the boat to check what the ‘problem’ was. 

“what‘s happening” Kie asked.

“Uh, the alternator’s uh… not alterating anymore” JJ said. 

“It’s not charged” John b said.

“Did you check the plugs?” Kie asked.

“No, no, you should check them” JJ said, stepping aside so that Kie could inspect the motor. 

“You guys are useless” Kie muttered. 

JJ and John B sped off and jumped off the boat into the water. 

“Is this a joke?” Kie said.

“Go, go, go” JJ said. “Sayonara!”

They jumped off the boat, swimming to the HMS Pogue. Kie tried to run but she heard a voice “John B! John B let me out!”

Kie let her go from her hiding and looked at each other.

“Guys! Are you serious?” Sarah yelled.

“Get your asses back here, Y/N!” Kie yelled. “You’re my best friend, come on”

“Sorry, Kie, I seduced her!” JJ yelled.

“You did not, they forced me!” You yelled back.

“We can’t do anything till you guys figure it out” John B said. 

“I will kill every single one of you” Kie yelled. 

“There’s food in the cabin and JJ rolled a blunt” You yelled at them. 

“Hydroponic!” JJ yelled.

JJ started whooping as the boat sped off. 

“I feel bad for them” you said in your place. 

JJ sat next to you and whispered. “That bikini looks nice on you” 

You giggled. “You like it?”

He bit his lip, as a sign that he was loving it. 

“I figured” you said standing up and walking up to John B and Pope, trying to sex your walk up. You heard JJ’s tortured groan, making you giggle.

The next day you were ready to rescue the girls from the trap.

“Uh-oh. You forgot your keys or something?” you yelled.

“You need a tow?” John B asked. “You gotta admit, it was pretty funny”

Kie huffed. It was a sign that maybe it didn’t work. “John B…”

“What?”

“Mastermind, huh?” she said sarcastically.

“Always planning”

“Some patriarchal bullshit” Kie said.

“I agree, this guy here forced me to do it” you said. 

“Admit that i seduced you” JJ said.

“Yeah, no that’s not gonna happen” you said, looking at the blonde that had those sunglasses he looked so hot in. “You still love us right? At least me, I didn’t have anything to do with it” you made a puppy face at Kiara who laughed at you.

“Yeah, whatever” Sarah said.

“You still hate me?” John B asked.

“A little, we’re both gonna get you back when you least expect it” she said.

“Watch your back boys”

“Hey, what about me?” you whined.

“You’re on probation” Kie said smirking. You fake gasped.

“Well, I welcome that challenge” Pope said.

“I do too” JJ joined. 

“So, did you guys you know… reconcile your differences?” you asked hopefully.

Sarah shook her head.

“Not even close” Kie agreed.

“But we’re willing to work together” Sarah said. 

John B looked at the boys and you. “You know what? That’s victory”

“Yep” JJ said. 

“Woogedy-woogedy-woogedy” Pope said.

“You know why? Hydroponic!” JJ said like a little boy.

You sighed. “Could you shut up with ‘hydroponic’?” you said to him

“Don’t say that” Pope agreed with you. 

“All right, shut up, you guys ready to jack up someone?” John B asked from his seat.

The girls jumped in the boat and you sped off to go get the gold at Crain’s house.

Back in the van, you were getting the stuff you brought like ropes, and other things.

“Okay, you got the rope?” John B asked from the driver’s seat.

“Got it” you said.

“Grappling hook?”

“No grappling hook” Pope said. “We’re not Batman”

“Pulley?”

“Check” you said.

“Dark clothes?”

John B stopped in front of the Crain’s house, it was night and it wasn’t going to be an easy task. 

“Let’s go get rich, guys” JJ said, jumping off the van, offering his hand so that you could grab it to step out of it. 

“Thank you” you said. “Let’s roll”

You put on your jacket, zipping it up. John B opened the door of the van ready to grab all the stuff when he stopped all of you.

“I wanna say thank you, guys, seriously. It means a lot to me that you’re here tonight” he said, a little smile on his face.

You rolled your eyes and smiled at him. “Always”

He looked at all of you until JJ broke the corny moment. “All right, are we done with the circle jerk? Can we go do this?” JJ said impatiently.

“Yeah“

“Let’s get that wheat in the water” Pope said.

“Weed? I’m up for weed?” JJ said.

“Unfortunately, Pope said wheat” you said pointing out the T. “but I would die for some”

Sarah started climbing the big old gate, and you did the same after Kie. You started walking inside the area, flashlights on. The motion sensor lights suddenly went on.

“Shit” you whispered, crouching down quickly, just like everyone else. “Flashlights” you said. JJ couldn’t turn off his so you grabbed it and turned it off. “It was on strobe”

“Okay, so she has motion sensor lights” Pope said panting.

“We could uh… move really slowly, maybe?” JJ offered.

“What?”

“Yeah, that’s not how it works” you said.

“Oh shit, let’s throw a rock at it” John B said.

“What?” pope said.

“That’s a really good idea, let the axe murderer know that we’re here” you said sarcastically.

“Throw a rock at it?” Pope repeated incredulously.

“Okay, you guys have a better idea?” John B asked.

“Literally anything but that” Kie said.

You suddenly had an idea. “What about the breaker? In the circuit box on the porch?” you asked. Everyone turned to look at you, confusion clouding their faces. “Okay, I never told anyone about it but I hooked up with a guy here. And yeah, that’s why I’m terrified of this place” you said. “I’ve seen it”

JJ rolled his eyes at that.

“No, no, you’re not going in the house alone” JJ said, trying to ignore the thing of you and that other guy hooking up here.

“I’ll go” Sarah said. 

“Crain chops people into pieces” JJ said. 

“If you believe that but she’s like, what? 85?” Sarah asked. 

“Yeah, something like that”

“She’s probably barely still kicking” Sarah said.

“I’ll go with you” Kie joined. 

“And you-” JJ said to you, “Are going with me and the guys”

You rolled your eyes. “Fine”

“We’ll wait for your signal” Pope said.

“Be safe” John B said.

“Yeah” Sarah said standing up to go to the front porch. 

JJ suddenly grabbed your face making you look at him. “Be safe” JJ whispered.

“I’ll be so safe” you said laughing. “I’ll be safe for you” you said, grabbing his hand on your cheek, trying to contain your laugh.

“Can you two stop, stop!” John B whispered-yelled at you. “I’m gonna kill you”

“But how would that keep us safe?” you continued. 

A long while after, JJ continued telling stories about this whole place.

“They said when Hollis disappeared--”

“That you should shut the eff up” you said. “Already told you, I don’t want to hear ghost stories” 

JJ whistled. 

Then the light went out. You four looked at each other and nodded. 

“They did it. Go time.” John B said. “Let’s do it”

You pulled your bandana like it was a face mask and made your way to the outhouse. You grabbed JJ’s hand in case you got lost or chopped into pieces by Ms. Crain. You got inside the outhouse and JJ put the rope and the other stuff near the newly discovered well. 

“Holy crap, you know what this is?” JJ said. “It just hit me, Y/N, Pope, look. This is CHUD, full CHUD” he said.

You nodded at him.

“What is he talking about?” John B said. 

“Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers” you said like it was obvious.

“Have you guys not seen that film?” JJ asked. 

“No”

“Can’t say I have”

You huffed. “That’s actually a good film, it’s about cannibals that live in the sewers and under New York City and it’s like--”

“Shut up, Y/N” John B said.

“Okay, jeez. General culture talking here” you said. 

“See, baby? That’s why you’re my favorite” JJ said to you. You chuckled and looked at the well, ready to throw the rope. 

“All right. How deep do you think it is, Pope?” John B asked him.

He sighed. “I don’t know”

John B put on the arness and you, along with the guys, started to pull him down the well, he stopped you to say something. “Hey, boys, I have one request,” he said. “Don’t drop me”

You almost dropped him on purpose and you earned a glare from the brunette.

“Whoa, oops” you said sarcastically.

“You’re gonna die first, for sure” John B said warningly. 

“Got ya” 

“All right, just keep paying it out nice and slow like that” Pope instructed. You kept pulling on the rope with Pope, already tired and sweaty. 

“Keep going” John B’s voice echoed from the inside of the well.

“Wait, hold on, one second. I’m gonna get situated” JJ said. 

“You good” you gritted through your teeth. The rope was heavy as hell. 

Suddenly you saw JJ slip, the rope sliding and slicing on your hands, the feeling burned. 

“Ah shit” you cried, grabbing the rope.

You heard JJ grunting, grabbing the rope. “Ah, jesus!” he cried.

You grabbed it as hard as you can, your hands getting sore. You moaned of pain, JJ looking at you. 

“John B” you whispered.

“I told you not to drop me!” he yelled.

“You good man?“ POpe asked.

“What the hell was that?” John B yelled back.

“Little technical difficulties” Pope said.

You sighed, wiping your hands on your jacket.

“Babe, you okay?” you asked JJ.

He nodded. “Did it hurt?”

You raised an eyebrow. “When I fell from heaven?” you said, thinking he was about to say a pick up line.

“No, no“ he laughed softly. “The rope, I heard you wince”

“I’m fine” you said. “Okay, JB, we’re gonna start paying you out, all right?” you said to him.

You managed to get the rope down to John B and sighed when you noticed how many feet were left.

“Okay, got 15 feet left” you said.

“Are you getting close to the bottom?” Pope asked.

“I can't tell” he said. “Just keep going”

You kept going, your hands getting tired. 

“Y/N, if you’re tired you can-” Pope started.

“I’m the strong one here, Pope. I’m fine” you huffed.

JJ looked at you. “That’s my girl”

“Whoa! Stop” John B said. “I’m hanging over some sewage-water looking shit” he said.

“You want back up?” Pope said.

“Keep going… I guess” John B winced. “Okay, okay, I’m at the bottom” he yelled back.

You three shared looks. He did it.

“How is it down there?” JJ asked.

“Any dead bodies?” you asked.

“It’s worse than I thought and no, haven’t found them at least” he said back.

“You found any gold?” JJ asked.

“Nothing yet” he said. “Wait” a moment of silence was heard until John B’s frantic voice made all of you startle. “JJ! Pull me up!”

“Pull him up! Pull him up! COme on!“ you said quickly, trying to grab the rope and pulling with all your strength.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait” you heard. 

You stopped pulling. “What?”

“Hey, I think I found something” he said.

You looked at the well hole and tried to see where your friend was.

“What did he say?” you asked.

“Just wait a minute” he yelled. 

A couple of minutes later, the girls came running, they looked scared as hell-

“Hey, hey, what’s going on?” you asked.

“Mrs. Crain, she’s up there” Sarah said panting.

“She tried to kill us with a fire poker” Kie said. “We gotta get the fuck out of here”

“Okay okay” JJ said. “Code red!” 

“John B! Let’s go, man. We gotta go” you yelled through the well.

You the five of you grabbed the rope all together.

“Okay, to the count to three. One. Two. Three!” you said and they pulled. You all fell backwards, JJ catching you, miraculously. “Shit. John B!” you yelled getting up.

He started yelling things but no one understood him.

“JJ! Y/n! Kie! Pope!” he yelled.

“He’s calling us” you said. “He’s drowning, we gotta get him out”

“John B, get back on the rope. We’re gonna pull you up, man” Pope said.

“Okay, I’m on” you heard.

You started pulling John B out of the well, when you heard footsteps. Then a gunshot was heard and you let out a yell. JJ’s arms pulled you down quickly in instinct. 

“Shit, the rope, tie it up!” you yelled. You tried to tie up the rope but JJ’s hands were pulling you down.

“Y/N down!” he said.

“The rope” 

You tied it faster and crouched down. 

“She can’t aim for shit” Kie said.

“She can’t see” Sarah whispered.

Then another gunshot was fired. Kie and Sarah got out of the outhouse. 

“Hey! Get- mphhh” you tried to say but JJ’s hand covered your mouth.

You saw John B climbing out of the well and you sighed of relief. 

Another gunshot was fired and you, JJ and Pope scrambled up and got out of the outhouse. You ran for your life and got into the van. JJ got into the driver’s seat and you got into the passenger’s. 

“Where is he?” Sarah asked. 

“Start the car, come on!” pope yelled. “Why are we always getting shot at?”

“Come on, John B!” you yelled. “Open the door for him”

John B threw himself into the car and the girls quickly closed the door of the van. “Oh shit” you heard and turned around to see him covered in what seemed like shit.

“Oh fuck. You’re covered in shit” he laughed.

“Oh my God, are you okay? Are you shot?” JJ asked.

“You look disgusting,” Pope said.

“You smell like ass” you laughed from the front seat.

“You okay?” JJ asked, putting a hand on your thigh. You grabbed his hand and nodded.

“You?”

“I’m in one piece” he said. “All-time Pogue of Fame, baby” he yelled. 

“That bitch is possessed,” Kie said.

”That bitch can’t aim” you said.

You turned around and saw John B with something shiny in his hand. 

“John B? John B! What is that?” you asked, everyone looking at him. “No, you didn’t” you said when you realized what he had in his hand was gold.

“We did it baby” John B yelled.

“Oh my god” JJ yelled. 

You squealed with excitement and suddenly you felt JJ’s hand grab the back of your neck and pull you to a kiss. Lucky you, nobody noticed. You put your hands on his cheeks, kissing him forcefully. You pulled back and yelled, “We’re gonna be filthy rich!”

“Full kook! Full kook!” you all started chanting, and yelling. 

Back at the Chateau, everyone had gone to their homes except for you and JJ. “Okay guys, it’s too late for me. I need to rest now. After being covered in shit and then finding out we’re gonna be filthy rich… I’m tired” he said. “Goodnight”

“Goodnight” you and JJ echoed.

JJ was sipping on a glass of water when you came behind him and put your arms around his shirtless torso, kissing his back. “Hey handsome” you whispered, resting your cheek on it.

You heard him let out a breath and turn around. “Hey sexy” he said, making you giggle. “We’re gonna be filthy rich”

“That we are” you responded, throwing your arms around him, to kiss him. 

You kissed him deeply and his hands rubbed up and down, under your shirt. He suddenly pulled away from the counter he was resting in, he grabbed your thighs, lifting you up, turning around to deposit you on top of the counter. The sudden action made you gasp and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside your mouth. He continued to kiss you and suddenly you heard a gasp near you. You both pulled away. 

John B stood there shocked. “I just wanted a glass of water” he said.

You and JJ looked at each other, and then back at John B.

“How long?”

“Uh… Midsummers” JJ said, scratching his neck sheepishly.

He nodded. “Were you planning on telling me?”

“Actually yes, we didn’t want you to find out like this. I’m sorry” you said.

He smiled. “It's okay. Now I don’t have to listen to JJ moan about you in a bikini” he said, grabbing the bottle from the fridge.

“Why aren’t you at Ward’s?” you asked, ignoring what he said about JJ.

“Figured I’d sleep here. Sarah texted him saying I’ll be staying here, so it’s no problem” he said. You nodded. “Well, goodnight, guys” he said and headed to his room. “Don’t do it here” he echoed. 

You turned to look at him, eyebrows raised, amusedly. “You moan to your friends every time you see me in a bikini?”

“What? You look hot on them” he shrugged his shoulders, making you roll your eyes.

“Come on, it’s late. Let’s go sleep” you said, patting his shoulder and jumping off the counter, smiling.

You got in the pull out couch and made space so that JJ could get in. He kissed you once more and sighed. “Goodnight, baby” you said, caressing his cheeks. 

“Night, beautiful”


	12. Tolerate It

The next day, you were sitting inside the van with Sarah and Kiara, laughing about the drabble she did about the idea that she had to take out the gold off Crain’s house.

“He said it looked something like this” Kie said, pointing out at her terrible drawing. “That’s ten feet down, and they’re using 100-feet rope, so I guess this little wagon will go straight to the gold room” she said.

You laughed looking at the drawing. “You drew this, Kie?”

“What do you think?” Kie laughed back.

Kie looked outside the van and saw John B and Pope who were figuring out the rope thing. You noticed Pope was staring way too much at Kie and you smirked.

“So someone’s looking at you” you said, shaking your shoulders playfully at your friend.

Kie’s eyes widened as she noticed, fluttering her eyes a little bit. She chose to not say anything and so did you, not wanting to continue teasing her.

JJ came out of the Chateau with the gold they rescued from the Crain’s house.

“Kie! This better work” JJ said, throwing it to the floor of the van. “We can’t pawn this if there’s a giant wheat symbol on it” 

“It’s gonna work” she assured the boy.

He nodded then he looked at you, the smile falling off his face. 

“You-” he said pointing at you, “Come here”

You got closer to him, furrowing your eyebrows, surprised at his tone. You got a foot out of the van while your knee rested on the floor of it, and he grabbed your jaw all of sudden, planting a kiss to your mouth. 

“Just wanted to do that,” he said, smirking and rubbing your nose with yours a little. He let go of your jaw and then walked away.

You stood there, licking your lips trying to process the whole thing. You looked at the girls who had a shocked expression on them.

“Are you-” Sarah started but you cut her off.

“Yeah” you nodded smiling. 

Kie squealed and you bit your lip, looking over your shoulder to peek at him while he talked with John B about the gold. 

A few minutes later, Kie started to melt the gold with fire and you sat looking at the process, a happy sigh leaving your lips. 

Then you headed off to a pawn place to try to exchange the gold. JJ got out first and you jumped off the van right after him. 

“Hell of a job melting it down, Mr. Frankenstein” He said. 

“Like you could’ve done it better” Kie defended herself. 

“I could have done it much better actually” JJ said. Then they started arguing who would’ve done it better, until you shushed him. 

“Shh, come on” you said. “Just continue walking and shut up”

“Chill out” John B said.

JJ sighed. “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to pawn this piece of shit ”he said. “How did I get this job anyway?”

“Cause you’re the best liar” you said simply, patting your hands on your back.

You got inside the shop, “Good afternoon, ma’m” he said in a very masculine voice, almost making you snort.

“Afternoon” the lady responded.

“I see you buy gold” JJ said, getting closer to the counter. 

”That’s what the sign says, don’t it?“ the lady replied rudely.

“Calm down, nanna, who the heck twisted your panties, jeez” you whispered to Kie who had to cover her mouth so that she didn't laugh out loud. 

“Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, because I am about to blow your mind” he said, taking out his backpack, and shuffling inside of it.

“I ain’t got much mind left to blow, so have at it“ the lady said.

JJ deposited the gold on the counter and smirked. “How about the gold apples?” he said.

The lady laughed. “That ain’t real” she said, shaking her head, eyebrow raised.

“That ain’t real?” JJ asked. 

“It can’t be” she said simply. 

“Feel how heavy it is” JJ insisted. 

The lady started inspecting the piece of melted gold and you stood there studying her face. “Spray-painted tungsten” she said. 

“Spray-painted tungsten? Really, okay” JJ said. “Okay, why don’t you, uh, see how soft it is?” 

The lady tried to see if it was breakable by poking at it strongly with a tiny hammer but it didn’t break. 

“Wow, would you look at that?” JJ said smiled.

“Hold on your horses” the pawnbroker said. “We ain’t got the acid test yet”

“Ohh, the acid test” JJ said excitedly. “My favorite, guys” he said looking over his shoulder at all of you. 

You looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “What the hell”

The pawnbroker started doing the acid test, and it turned out it was real gold. “Well, it ain’t plated, it ain’t painted” 

“Ma’am I’m telling ya, this is as real as the day is long” JJ said.

The lady continued inspecting it. “It looks like somebody tried to melt it down” she said. 

JJ took a second to think, and quickly answered. “My mom. She had all this jewelry laying around the house, and she thought it was best to-- to melt it down. To ‘consolidate’ it” he said.

You looked at Sarah, trying not to laugh. He really was the best liar.

The pawnbroker weighed the gold. “Seven pounds? That’s a lot of earrings” 

“Okay, to be honest, ma’m, it’s really hard to see my mom fall apart with Alzheimer's,” he said, trying to fake cry. You tried to stifle a laugh, covering your mouth with your hand, and continuing to inspect the things that she had on the shelves.

The pawnbroker said she was going to the back storage and then she’d come back, gold in her hand.

“Take your time, ma’am” he said, his voice breaking. 

You came closer to him laughing slightly, “Okay, J, that was some of your best work” you said.

He smiled and then saw the lady coming back so you tried to appeal as a buyer, trying to look around at the place. 

“So, I uh… I talked to my boss” she said, it kinda looked suspicious. 

“And?” JJ asked.

“And, uh, this is what I can do” she said, handing a couple of bills. 

He arched an eyebrow. “Fifty thousand?” he said. “You think I walked in here not knowing the spot price?” he asked, chuckling. “Ma’m I know for a fact that this is worth 140, at least” 

“Well, sweetie, you in a pawnshop, this ain’t Zurich, do I look swiss to you?” she asked cockily, arching an eyebrow. 

“Ninety or I walk” he said sternly.

“Seventy, half price… and uh… I don’t ask questions about where you got this” she said. 

JJ looked at John B who made a sign, and he knew what to do.

“I’m gonna need that in large denominations, please” JJ said. 

He looked at all of you and smiled slightly. “Well, here’s the snag” the pawnbroker said, “I don’t have that much denominated, not here anyway, I can write you a cashier’s check” 

“Cash- no ma’am. I want the cold hard. That’s what the sign says-” he said pointing at it. “Cash for gold, and that’s what I expect, I’m gonna get it in cold hard” he said, patting his finger against the counter, trying to put on his best angry face on.

“Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there, is that all right?” the pawnbroker said. 

JJ inspected the lady. “Where’s this warehouse?” he said, smirking.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You got out of the shop and right into the van to speed off to the warehouse. 

“So, they keep money out here?” Pope asked. 

“That’s what she said” JJ said. 

You laughed. “That’s what she said” you said and JJ laughed with you, and then Pope shook his head,

“Stop” he said and your laughter died down.

“I’ve never even heard about Resurrection Drive” Sarah said.

“Cause you’re rich” JJ said.

“You’ve never heard of it either” you said, crossing your arms over your chest. 

“Thank you” Sarah said to you and you nodded. 

Kie looked out the window. “There’s nothing but weeds out here” she said, pointing out at a bunch of trees. 

“All right, just because it’s weeds, doesn't mean it’s like--” he said but a siren caught them by surprise. It looked like a police car.

You looked at the window and sighed. “Cops? Here?” you asked surprised.

“God! Are you kidding me?” JJ started saying angrily.

“What did we do?” Sarah asked.

“I’m sure that bitch ratted us out” you said. “Stash that” you said to JJ and he quickly put it in his bag, hiding it under the seat.

“I hate cops” JJ said through gritted teeth. 

“Chill, just be nice and chill” you said, sitting properly, straightening your shoulders to get a good posture. 

“Did you bring the gun?” John B asked at JJ.

“No, okay? Everybody told me to leave it back at the place“ JJ said. 

“Thank God” Kie sighed. “Just, please put everything on your bag”

“I am! I am! All right?” JJ said frantically, pushing the bag further under the seat.

“How much weed do you have on you, bro?” Kie asked him.

Pope tried to push the backpack down. And they started out a discussion, so you covered your ears when they reached the point of yelling. “God, guys, shut the fuck up” you said.

“Sir--” John B said thinking it was a cop but a gun cocking made everyone gasp. 

A guy in a mask with a shotgun in hand aimed at John B’s head. You gasped looking at the guy with a bandana covering the half of his face. “Why don’t I go ahead and see them hands up in the air?” he said, yelling. 

You looked at JJ, trying to see if he was planning on something and did as he was told. 

“All y’all hands up in the air!” the guy yelled again. “You, out of the car, let’s go“

John B did as he was told and got out of the van, hands in the air. 

“Out of the car, let’s go hurry” he yelled. “Let them out”

“What you waitin’ on? What you waitin’ on? Let them out” he continued yelling.

John B walked up to the other side of the van and opened the door. Sarah got out of the car, then Kie, then Pope and then you.

“There you go pretty girl, let’s go” he said looking at you.

JJ got out of the car, hands up. “Dude, we’re broke--” he started but his yell cut him off.

“Shut the hell up!” the guy yelled.

“Alright! Alright! Just relax!” JJ yelled at the guy. You grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer, trying to get him to shut up.

“Lay down in the ditch! Lay down in the ditch, now! On your goddamn knees” the guy with the shotgun continued yelling.

You sighed and did as you were told. Once you were on the ground, you took a shaky breath. JJ saw how tense you were and came closer to you. The guy grabbed his head and pulled it down so that he didn’t look up. 

“Don’t let me see you look up, alright? That’s all y’all gotta do” he ordered. 

“It was a setup guys” Kie said. 

“That old bat shanked us” JJ said, then he punched the ground in anger, “Fuck, goddamnit”

Your breath was uneven. You saw how John B started standing up and you panicked.

“John B! What the hell are you doing?” you whispered. “Don’t be a hero, man” your voice quivered a little. 

You saw how Barry found the gold and you sighed, a few tears slipping from your eyes. 

He got out of the car with a folded blanket and you knew that it was the gold. “Alright you stay, just like that, in case you want your brains blown out all over this road. Don’t move your goddamn heads, okay?” he said. 

The guy got inside of the car and you lifted your head trying to see if you caught a glimpse of John B. 

“Guys! I got the gun!” you heard. You stood up as quickly as you could and JJ sprinted up to grab the gun John B had in his hands. 

JJ tried to punch the guy but he punched him first, and just because of that you lunged forward to kick him in the groin and then push him to the ground. 

“I got the gold” pope said.

Sarah grabbed the door of the car and started hitting him with that. Kie then kicked his side. And you kicked his head. 

“You son of a bitch” you said, spitting it on his face, crouching down to his level.

You grabbed the bandana and removed it roughly from his face. “I know this piece of shit” JJ said furiously. “He’s a basehead”

“Probably knows my brother” Sarah said. 

“He sells coke to my dad” JJ said grabbing the gun.

“Listen I couldn’t hurt any single one of y’all--” the guy tried to say but JJ hit him with the shotgun and you pulled him back.

“JJ!’ you yelled at the blonde. 

He pushed you out of the way, falling against John B, who caught you.

JJ grabbed his wallet and searched for his identification. He took it out and nodded. 

“We got one last stop” he said walking to the van.

You looked at John B. He looked at you and shook his head. 

“Let’s see where this son of a bitch lives” he said. 

“I’m gonna remember this shit! You can’t hide from me” Barry said from the ground.

JJ started the van and you sighed, knowing this was a very, very bad idea. Soon JJ pulled up at Barry’s house and you looked around.

“Welcome to Crackhead Wasteland” Sarah said.

“I don’t know about this, JJ“ you said.

He didn’t answer and just pulled up by the entrance of his trailer, stopping the car. 

“Dude, why are we at Barry’s” Pope asked.

“This’ll only take a second” JJ said, opening the door of the van.

“Where are you going?” You yelled at him.

“Yo soy justicia” JJ yelled, walking up the front porch steps of Barry’s trailer. 

He got inside his house and you were about to go get him.

“Nah, I got it” John B said.

“You sure?” you asked, chewing on your lip.

“Yeah, yeah” he said.

Kie sat beside you. “You know, you could probably flash him your boobs and he’ll retreat” she said, trying to light up the mood. 

“That’s not a bad idea, except we haven’t done that yet” you told the girl.

A couple of minutes later, the two of them came out with a bag of cash. “Alright so, we’re looking at five grand each for reparations for putting us through this bullshit” he said. “Sorry about that y’all”

Your eyes widened. “That’s what we’re doing? Stealing from drug dealers, really, J?” you asked him. 

“This Barry guy is gonna find out,” Sarah said. “And he’s gonna come after us”

“Yes, he will, and this is not the time to start wilin out” Pope said.

“How’d you guys like having a gun pulled on you?” JJ asked. 

“Relax” John B said, getting closer to him.

“He had it--” he pointed to his forehead, “right here bro”

“Look, we gotta go get the gold, now give me that shit” John B said grabbing the bag.

JJ pushed him up against the van and you came closer to them. “JJ, stop. Now“ you said but he didn’t listen.

“You feel like a tough guy, huh?” John B asked him. “What are you gonna do when he comes for us?”

“We punch him in the throat” JJ said.

“Yeah, good fucking idea, JJ” John B said.

JJ grabbed the bag from his hands. “I’m not putting it back” he stated. 

He got inside the car and all five of you looked at him.

“You guys getting it or what?” 

The others didn’t look or answer.

“Y/N?” he asked you, demandingly. “Get in the van…” he said, and your eyes watered a little bit, knowing this wasn’t the usual JJ, the one who wouldn’t dare to raise his voice towards you, he softened and sighed, “please?”

You huffed and shook your head. He sighed and got out. “What?”

“We’re sick of your shit” John B said simply.

“Oh, my shit?“ he asked, laughing a little.

“Yes, your shit” he said, arms crossed over his chest. 

“Yes, your pulling guns on people shit” Kie said.

“You acting like a freaking maniac” pope started.

“Okay, Pope, I took the fall for you, man!” JJ said angrily at him. “Know how much money I owe because of you?” 

“Hey! That’s just unfair” you said to him.

“I’m gonna pay you back, and I didn’t ask you to do that” Pope said.

“I just did” he said. “Pay it back, right here, right now, by myself” he said.

He looked at all of you. 

“You know what? That’s exactly what I’m gonna do. Go off by myself” he said, bag of cash on his hand. 

“JJ” you said following him, John B tried to pull you back but you pulled your hand out. “JJ, wait, please” you said.

He didn’t stop walking.

“Can we just talk, calm ourselves, please, this isn’t you-” you tried but he cut you off. 

“God, just shut up!” JJ whirled around to look at you, a furious face on him. 

You gasped at the sudden tone. “No, you don’t get to yell at me!” you yelled at him.

“Yes, I do Y/N. Ever since we kissed you’ve been like obsessed with me and shit and it’s getting on my last fucking nerve” he shouted.

You blinked away the tears and sighed. “Obsessed with you? Really? Is that what you think of me?” you said, your chin quivering but you tried to show him you could take whatever he was going to say.

“Could you stop being a bitch and piss off?” he said, turning around and walking away.

You huffed, tears rolling down your face. “FINE! Fuck off” you yelled at him and walked to the van, everyone watching you. “Let’s go, show’s over”

Kie watched you with a concerned face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine” you said, snapping at her a little bit. “Can we just go?” you muttered to John B.

He nodded with a sad smile. “Yeah”

As the van drove away from Barry’s house, your heart broke more and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for the angst :(


	13. Fall Apart

You sat at The Wreck looking at nothing. Your mind was blank, and you were numb. Just thinking about the way that the guy you loved with all your heart, the one you loved the most yelled at you admitting that he thinks you’re obsessed with him destroyed you internally, and worst of all, he thought you were a bitch. Kie pushed a glass full of strawberry milkshake but you didn’t even look at it. 

“Look, he’ll come around all right. He didn’t mean what he said” John B said rubbing your shoulder. “Do you know how many times I had to talk him into pursuing you because he was afraid you’d turn him down, Y/N? He’s madly in love with you, and he’s been in love with you for years. He was just angry.” he said, placing a hand on your arm.

You just shrugged. “Whatever he did to get me, it doesn’t matter to me. His words hurt. The way he looked at me...” you said, no emotion on your body. 

“He’s an idiot. He’s probably kicking himself from saying those things to you” Kie said.

“You said probably” you mumbled, not even bothering to look at her.

“Like you said, JJ is the best liar. He lies all the time, what he said wasn’t real. He was just angry” Sarah tried.

You rolled your eyes. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’m done with his shit. For good”

“You don’t mean that” John B said. “Y/N, you’re not thinking this shit straight, alright? You’re just sad” he tried. 

“I am thinking straight, John B. Okay? I’m done with this” you said, looking at him. 

You sighed and sipped on the milkshake. John B tried to talk again but Kie shook her head.

“You think he’ll go home?” Kie asked.

“There’s about a zero percent chance that JJ goes home” pope said.

You sighed at the mention of his name. They started talking about the pawning off thing with the golf but you weren’t paying attention.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You then got to your house to drop off some things and opened the door. You found your mother and William… kissing? What the hell is going on?

“Mom?” you yelled.

Your mother yelped and pulled out. William scratched his head and looked at you.

“Hello sweetheart, what are you, what are you doing here? I thought you were with your friends?” Your mother said, pulling her fingers through her hair.

You just tried to process the whole thing. “I was with my friends, yes. Guess it gave you time to fuck with the guy that abandoned you with a fucking child” you said, laughing sarcastically. 

“Hey, don’t talk to your mother like that” William raised his voice.

You let out a ragged scream. “Shut up! God, you don’t stop ruining my life, William! First you come in to the Chateau claiming you’re my dad and you want to speak to me” you yelled at him. “My friends had to comfort me for three weeks straight because I couldn’t fucking believe you were my dad and you were right there with me, breathing the same air. You reappear every once in a while when you feel like talking to me about how sorry you are and how you regret disappearing like that is gonna change what you did and who you are? And now, you’re kissing my mother? You’re whispering in her ear like you’re some fucking snake charmer!”

William ran his hands through his hair. “Y/N, I didn’t disappear, okay? I made some mistakes in the past that I know that you won’t forgive me for them but I just had to try. For God sake you're my daughter. I never found out I had a daughter 14 years later you were born, how was I supposed to know--”

You were shocked about it. “Wait, mom… you told me he ran off”

William looked at your mother in pure shock. “Is that true, Suzanne? You told her I ran off?”

She couldn’t speak.

“Mom, is that true?”

She nodded. “I… your father here, he cheated on me with some other girl from Chapel Hill and he broke things off with me when I found out I was pregnant. And I never told him about it, till he came back again. And you were there. And I had to tell him” 

You gasped. “You lied… you said that… that he ran off” you said. “You made me feel unwanted” your eyes getting teary. 

Your mother started crying. “No, baby, no. I didn’t-”

“You fucking liar!” You cried. “Today’s been literally the worst day of my freaking life. The guy that I love now thinks I’m obsessed with him and now I find out that you’ve been lying to me for 16 years about him?” you asked. “I’ve been lashing out on him for two years now, and it was all a lie?” you really couldn’t believe this was happening to you, in your worst day of your life. 

Your mother cried even more. “I just… I was angry at everything. And maybe telling you that he didn’t want you was the way that made things easier for me. So that you wouldn’t find him. It was pure selfishness, I know-”

“Selfish?” you asked. “You’re the worst mother ever. Who the hell lies to his kid about their dad? I thought that he was sorry that he didn’t want me before but… I would’ve had a dad if you told the truth!”

You walked towards the door and opened it. “Kie and Pope are waiting for me” you said coldly. “Don’t even bother calling me or trying to teach out”

“Baby, just let me talk” Your mother said.

You turned around. “When I trust you again, you’ll have the chance to actually speak to me”

You walked to the car, opening the door and sighing.

“Everything okay?” Kie asked.

“No. Just drive, Kie” you said looking out the window.

She nodded and started the car, speeding off to the Chateau.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You arrived at the Chateau to get into planning the stuff and Kie stopped the car. 

“Okay, well we gotta focus” you said, getting out of the car.

“I know, it’s gonna be fine” Pope said. “We got JJ and John B inside the well, Y/N and me up the top” he said. “And you Kie and Sarah will be outside transporting” he said, opening the door and getting out of the car.

“Yeah, we got this” Kie said, already out of the car.

“Cool” the boy answered. “Uh, I got a winch, that tin can hold over like, 200, 300 pounds“ he said looking at Kie’s truck.

“Thanks” Kie said.

You started to plan out how to transport the gold once you got it out of the well. Pope talking too much things, and you understanding just half of them, as always. Suddenly, lights were turned on all around the Chateau. You three looked at each other, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. 

“What the hell?’ you said.

“Who the hell is that?” Kie asked, walking down to see who was the one who turned up all the lights.

You walked up with Kie and gasped when you saw JJ inside an enormous hot tub, popping out the cork of a very expensive champagne bottle. 

“What did you do, JJ?” Pope asked.

You just stared at him, not knowing what to do, or say, or what move you’d do next. 

“I got a jet going straight in my butt right now” he giggled drunkenly. “Y’all should get in immediately, you hear me?” 

He poured three glasses of champagne, the liquid spilling out a little off the glass.

“Salud” he said and sipped up from the bottle.

“How much did this cost?” Pope asked.

“Uh… well the generator, the petrol, with, oh hey, delivery express… pretty much all of it, yeah” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Pope gasped beside you. “All of it?”

“Yeah, all of it” he said simply.

“You spent all the money in one day?” he asked.

“Yeah, burned a hole right through my pocket. But, I mean, like, come on guys, look at this!“ JJ said. “Finest in-jet based massage therapy, that’s what they told me” you looked at him, like you wouldn't believe him. “Y/N, what? Can’t a man have a little luxury in life? Come on, all this scrimping and scraping…” he trailed off. “I mean, guys, like-- we only live once, right? Enough of this emotional shit, get in the Cat’s Ass, come on”

“In the what?” kie asked.

“In the Cat’s Ass, that’s what I named her. Oh, hey, yo I almost forgot” he said, and pushed a button that turned on disco-like lights. “Yeah, that’s right I know. Disco mode. That’s right, baby”

“Are you kidding me?” Pope started.

“Wait, just---” you tried but she cut you off.

“You could’ve paid for restitution!” he yelled.

“Or literally given it to any charity” she said, you tried to talk to them but they weren’t listening.

JJ started rubbing the bridge of his nose, the patience he had for this was coming to an end. 

“Or better yet, could’ve helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well” Pope said.

“Okay, well, you know what? I didn’t do that” JJ said, standing up, giving you a full view of the marks on his chest, courtesy of the jerk who JJ called his dad.

Your hand flew to your mouth, gasping. 

“I got a hot tub! For my friends. I got a hot tub for my friends, you know what? Screw friends, I got a hot tub to my family” JJ yelled at all of you. 

The tears started to blur your vision, a little sob escaping your lips. 

“What the hell?” Kie said.

“I got this for you” he continued, “Guys, look what I did for you, all right? Look at this“ he said crying too.

“JJ, please” you said.

“No, you stop being emotional all right? I mean, it’s sweet right? Everything--” he said, but you cut him off by running towards the hot tub. 

You got into the hot tub and hugged him. His hands immediately came around you, sliding under your shirt, caressing the skin there. You didn’t even care that his hands were wet. 

“I just couldn’t do it” he said. You closed your eyes and caressed his back, a few tears slipping out of your eyes. He continued sobbing on your neck.

“It’s okay, you’re with me” you whispered, kissing his shoulder. 

“I can’t take him anymore,” he said loudly.

You sobbed loudly. “I know, love, I know” you said. His hands were running up and down your back with force, gripping you closer, he needed you closer. 

“I was gonna kill him” he whispered, brokenly.

Pope and Kie joined the hug with you. You sighed and ran your hands up and down his back.

“We’re here for you, always” you reassured him. “Forever”

“I just wanna do the right thing” he said.

“I know” you whispered. “I know you do”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


After bringing JJ inside, Kie and Pope decided to call it a night. You sat JJ in the guest room’s bed and went to talk to them.

“you can go, I know how to handle this” you reassured your friends.

Kie tilted her head. “You sure?”

You nodded. “Been doing this since I can remember, I’ll be fine, don’t worry about lil old me” you sighed, putting your hands inside the pockets of your jean shorts.

”If you need anything--” Pope said.

“I’ll call you. Right. Good night, guys” you said hugging your friends.

“Bye, Y/N” they said.

You got to the room where JJ sat, a towel on his shoulders. He was looking at the floor, not saying anything. You grabbed the first-aid kit and opened it.

“You want me to check on those?” you asked quietly. “They look pretty bad”

He nodded and straightened up.

You started rubbing the alcohol and trying to contain the tears. “What happened this time, J?”

He shook his head, sighing. “I told him I got the money. And he wanted to buy… I don’t know. Some expensive shit he saw on sale in the newspaper. I told him to do the right thing for once, to pay restitution, whatever. Of course he started saying that the money aint going to the cops. And then I just took the money and tried to run with it. He caught me and started punching me. This is the first time I’ve ever punched him back” he said. Your hand stood still on his chest. “And then when I had him, right on the ground, I told him I wasn’t afraid of him. And then I… I ordered that stupid hot tub and made you guys see that, God-”

“Hey, hey” you said, grabbing his face to make him look at you. “You confronted your dad. You told him you weren’t afraid of him. That’s what matters. Your dad used the fear you had of him against you. You do realize that, right?” you asked him. 

He looked at you and sighed.

“Guess daddy issues are part of our daily basis, huh?” you said, looking down, the hand that was on his face fell.

“What happened with William today? Came to plead you again?’ he asked, putting a hand on your leg. 

”No, actually. Found out that my mom lied to me about him, all this time” you said, laughing ironically, “he started saying some things, the usual, and then he goes ‘I found out I had a daughter 14 years after you were born’. My mom lied to me because she got cheated on by him, and then she never told him she was pregnant with me. And so to make me resist the idea of go dad-hunting, she told me that William ran off after I was born” you said.

He sighed, “come here” he said, extending his arms so that you could fit right between them. 

You hugged him and inhaled his scent, the one that calms you down even on the darkest storms of your life. “I know this isn’t as serious as what happened to you is just… My mother was like a hero to me. The one who gave me everything she could, thinking that my dad was some asshole that didn’t give two shits, but it wasn’t. I would’ve have a dad if only she--”

JJ cut you off by pulling away, making you look at him.

“Hey, it’s okay. You just need to talk with her and William. Try to sort it out. Okay?” he said.

You nodded. You hated that everything was a little awkward now. 

“Maybe I’m not the best help but… we’re always here for you. You never needed a dad when you kicked Topper’s dick when you were 13 because he stole John B’s sandwich for lunch” he said, making you laugh. “You didn’t need a dad that one time a guy you really liked made fun of you because he said he looked fat in a bikini”

“You punched that guy square in the face” you laughed.

“Nobody messes with my girl“ He said simply. You giggled, making him smile.

“Thank you” you said, grabbing his hands, linking your fingers together.

He looked at you and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about what I said today. I didn’t mean it. None of it. Not a single thing” he reassured you, “I was mad. I was just… angry at everything and I took it out on you by saying shit that wasn’t true”

“It’s okay” you said, shaking your head.

“No, it’s not” he said. “I said that, only because we shared a few kisses, you weren’t my girlfriend, and the thing is that I don’t want that. I _do_ want you to be my girl, and I was afraid you didn’t want a serious relationship with me because _God_ , I’m a mess. But the truth is, I love you Y/N, I’m so fucking in love with you it scares the shit out of me and-” he started rambling but something cut him off. You. 

You cut him off by kissing almost the life out of him. You put your hands on his face and his fell to your waist. He grabbed your leg making it swing around to make you straddle his lap. Your lips never left his, you just continued kissing him, his hands dipping under your shirt, caressing the soft flesh, hands warm and steady.

You pulled away and sighed, resting your forehead on his.

“I’m in love with you too, J” you said to him. “So, so, so freaking in love”

He sighed, smiling and pulled you back for a kiss. Your hands went to his hair, tugging on it, drawing a little groan out of him. You tried to relieve the ache on your core so you thrust your hips against his crotch trying to relieve it. He went to kiss down your neck, leaving open mouthed kisses on your soft skin, the rings on his fingers leaving a cold pattern on the skin of your back.He sucked on your skin, making you moan out. “J…” you said out of breath. He came back up, kissing you again, your tongues dancing together. 

You pulled away to take off your shirt, leaving you in a bikini top. He unbuckled your shorts and you stood up, pulling them down your long legs, JJ dropping a kiss to your stomach. You sat, straddling his lap in only a bikini. He looked at you, biting his lip nervously while playing with the string of the bikini top that was behind your back.

”Is this okay?” he asked, you nodded.

He pulled the strings, making the piece of clothing fall between you two. He looked at you, his pupils blown wide with lust. He sighed as he looked at your bare chest, “You’re perfect” he said, looking at your eyes, biting his lip softly. 

You grabbed his face and kissed him. JJ stood up making your legs wrap instantly around his torso, turning around and depositing you on the bed behind him. 

You knew it was going to be a lustful long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: smut ahead
> 
> if you feel uncomfortable with this, you can feel free to skip this chapter.

As JJ deposited you on the bed, you tried to untangle the string of his swim shorts. He dipped his head to kiss your cheek, your jaw and finally, your neck. He dropped kisses, and then started sucking on the soft skin there. His teeth digged into your skin, and you knew there was definitely going to be a mark tomorrow. You moaned, throwing your head back, your head all spread out on the bed. It felt so good and so right, that you threw the thought of anyone who could’ve walked right into the Chateau, could hear you, right out of the window. He got closer to your chest and you tried to watch his face, your cheeks growing red by the second.

JJ suddenly raked his tongue over your nipple, roughly. You threw your head back in a moan, your hands grabbing at his hair. He sucked on it, making you moan out loud again. He groaned against your flesh and switched to the other one. After a few minutes of sucking and licking, he finally started dropping kisses down your stomach after driving you out of your mind. His tongue dipped into your navel and continued the trail of kisses right above the hemline of your bikini bottoms.

“JJ” you whispered. You knew exactly what he wanted, and you’ve never done that with anyone because it scared you a little. 

He lifted his head to find your eyes watching him.

“What- what are you doing?” you asked him, out of breath, and a little flushed. 

He came back up to place a lingering kiss on your lips, and his hands stayed on your thighs, rubbing them. “It’s okay, I got you,” he said. You nodded, trusting him. 

JJ resumed the kisses down your stomach, his hands drawing circles on your hips, soothingly. He looked up with the string of your bikini bottoms between his fingers, for approval. You nodded your head quickly and he untied them, throwing them to god knows where. 

You closed your legs but he gently opened them. “Don’t be ashamed, you're beautiful and I want to taste you” he said hotly, pressing kisses to your knees.

You took a deep breath and opened them. You heard his breath catching in his throat and you pressed your lips together. JJ roughly swiped his tongue through your folds, making you moan loudly. JJ groaned against your core and continued attacking your folds with his tongue. Your hands moved to tangle in his hair, gripping it tightly. His tongue started to do wonders to you and you could barely concentrate on anything but him. 

His tongue dipped over your clit, thrusting inside of you. Your eyes rolled at the back of your head, making your legs shake. JJ grabbed one of your legs, depositing one to hook over his shoulder and the other one laid to the other side so you laid open to him.

He continued the assault on your pussy, you under him, a mess of moans.

He sucked harshly on your clit, making you come. “Shit, shit, JJ” you moaned. “I’m gonna come”

He groaned, collecting everything on his tongue. Once he was finished, he placed a kiss to your pubic bone, a sign of affection. He came back up, kissing your mouth, letting you taste yourself on his tongue. He dipped his fingers inside of you, making your nails dig into his back. He continued the kiss, biting your lip and then diving back again. You came for a second time on his fingers and gasped, trying to collect your breath again. 

JJ moved your hair out of your face, and once you regained your senses, you pushed him onto his back, climbing on top of him. He groaned at the sight of you, all naked on top of him.

“Ah, fuck me, you’re so hot” he said, his hands moving to cup your tits in his hands, his thumbs brushing over the nipples, making you moan out a little. 

You kissed his neck and started kissing your way down to his chest. You bit his nipple just to drive him crazy, making the blonde groan and then reached the hem of his swim trunks. You ran your tongue over the deep V of his pelvis and pushed the trunks down his legs. His erection slapped against his lower stomach, making your mouth water at how fucking big he was. 

You grabbed him and started pumping him up and down, his groans making you wet. 

“Shit, Y/N” he said, running his hands over his hair.

You touched your tongue to the tip and tasted the precum that leaked from it, the taste driving you crazy. You took him full in your mouth, making him grab your hair roughly, the tip hitting the back of your throat. You moaned around his length and continued bobbing your head up and down. 

“Baby, stop, or I’m gonna come” he said hotly.

You took your mouth off him, continuing to jerk him off. “But I want you to come” you said, eyes blown wide, lips parted slightly and swollen. He groaned at the sight and pulled his head back. You resumed your previous actions, taking him inside your mouth once again. Once the tip hit the back of your throat for a second time, he came, the cum hitting your throat. You swallowed around him and took your mouth off of him, sucking on your thumb. 

He sat up, swiping his thumb roughly over your lip. JJ kissed you, inserting his tongue inside your mouth. You bit his lip and then dove into the kiss once again.

He grabbed your hips, throwing you onto the bed and climbing up to you, he didn’t even wait for you to stop bouncing on the bed. He kissed you and you rubbed your core against his crotch. You noticed he was hard again and you moaned.

“JJ...“ you whispered to him.

“What?” he asked, licking your lips. You tried to reconnect your lips with his but he pulled back, a cocky smile adorning his lips. “What do you want?”

“I want you inside me” you whispered, your hands rubbing up and down his arms. 

He kissed you once again, caressing your legs and stomach. His gentle touches made your heart melt inside of your chest. 

“Condom?” you asked.

He lifted his arm and grabbed one that was on his nightstand. 

“You had it all prepared, haven’t you?” you laughed.

“Been waiting my whole life for this baby” he winked, making you blush. He messily managed to get the condom on, making you giggle.

JJ brushed his tip against your entrance, making your breath hitch at the back of your throat. You swallowed and he pushed himself fully inside of you. 

JJ brushed the hair off your face and left a kiss on your lips.

“Before we do this, I want you to know that I love you, with my whole fucking heart” he said. Your eyes filled with tears and you rubbed his cheeks.

“JJ…” you whispered.

“I will always love you, always,” he said, reassuringly. “I’ve loved you all my life, I’m not sure if I’ll ever stop. You mean the world to me” he said, dropping his forehead to rest with yours. 

You bit your lip and kissed him, trying to show him all your love towards him.

“I love you too, J. I’ve been feeling like this since I met you and… I just want you to know that I’ll protect you and love you for my whole life” you said. “Always did and always will”

He smiled, his eyes glossy. You smiled back and kissed him again. 

JJ started to move, thrusting in and out of you, groaning at how tight you were gripping him.

“Shit, you’re so tight, baby” he whispered. He dipped his head to rake his tongue over your nipple, sucking on it. You arched your back and held his head to your chest.

“Oh my God” you whispered.

He continued, his thrusts getting harder and faster with time. You moaned and pulled him down for a kiss. After minutes of thrusting faster and harder, you sucked on his neck and whispered in his ear. “I’m gonna come” and then you bit his earlobe. 

He groaned, burying his face on your neck. “Ah, shit, me too, wait for me” he said. He thrusted, one more time, dipping his pelvis so that his whole body was brushing against yours. You came with a loud moan and he followed seconds after you. He groaned and continued thrusting lazily through his orgasm. 

JJ finished himself on the condom and collapsed on top of you. You wrapped your arms around him, catching him on time, and you nuzzled your face onto his shoulder. You let out a content sigh, enjoying the steading of your heavy breathing. You buried your hands on his hair, trying to comb the mess you did when he went down on you. 

He pulled away and left a kiss to your cheek. “That was amazing” he said, throwing off the filled condom. 

You smiled, rubbing his cheeks. “I love you” you said quietly.

He left a peck on your lips and rubbed his nose with yours. “I love you more”

You sighed, smilingly. “Wanna shower?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


You got into the shower, a breath of relief fell off your lips when you felt the warm water hitting your skin. JJ stood, looking at his wounds in the mirror.

“J,” you called him. He looked at you, his eyes glossy. “Come here, baby”

He let you pull him to the shower, and you wrapped your arms around him, carefully so that you wouldn't crush him and hurt him. You kissed all the wounds, noticing how his breath catched, and then left a kiss on his lips.

“I’m not going to let you think all those things you like to think about when your dad hits you” you said looking deep into his cerulean eyes. “Not anymore”

His hands came to frame your face, and dropped a kiss to your lips. “I know. Thank you, Y/N, really” he said, his forehead against yours. “I don’t know what I’d do without you”

You giggled, playing with his shark tooth necklace. “You always needed someone to pull on your leash a little and gladly that person has always been me” you smiled at him, he chuckled and nodded.

“Yep, you’ve always been that person” he confirmed. 

“And I will hopefully be that person forever” you sighed.

He kissed your forehead and pulled you even closer. “I won’t let anyone else but you do that”

You smiled at him, caressing his cheeks and then you pulled away to finally shower.

You stepped closer to the showerhead and started to wash your hair. He lazily leaned into the wall, watching you wash your hair and biting his lip.

“What?” you asked innocently as you were rinsing out the rest of the shampoo. 

He chuckled. “Nothing, you’re so hot. Can’t believe I finally got you. That’s all” he said.

You smiled and finished rinsing out the shampoo. You grabbed the soap bar and handed it to him. “Help me?” you asked coyly. 

You turned around and he started applying the soap on your back. He put over your ass, leaving a little slap, making you squeal. He turned you around to get on your chest and stomach. JJ put more soap into his hand, leaving the bar on the shelf and applying to your tits, a little bit too much. You raised an eyebrow at him. 

“What? They looked dirty” he said innocently. 

He finished soaping you up and helped you rinse out the soap. You tried to help him put on the shampoo on his hair but he was way taller than you and it was hard. 

He chuckled. “What? It’s not my fault your tall”

“You’re so adorable, I swear” he said laughing and dropping a kiss to your lips. 

You kissed him back, putting your hands around his waist pulling him closer. His hands dropped to your ass, squeezing it roughly, the wet and slippery skin making it more hot than it already was. The kiss started getting more and more heated, and then he pushed you against the tiles and started kissing his way down to your body. He stopped to swirl your nipples in his mouth with his tongue. You moaned, gripping the blonde strands of hair between your fingers.

“J…” you whispered. “Fuck”

“Does that feel good?” he asked huskily, continuing his assault on your tits.

“Shit, yeah” you admitted. 

He continued to kiss his way down your body, kissing your pelvis, his tongue dipping softly. 

You looked at him, pulling your leg over to hook it over his shoulder and his eyes darkening when he saw your dripping core. He started kissing the inside of your thigh teasingly. His tongue started kissing over the marks that he left and then you left a ragged moan when he swiped his tongue over your folds. Your breath started coming out in gasps at how good that felt. You’ve never let anyone do that to you, and it felt good that the only person you ever trusted to do that was JJ. He slid two fingers inside of you, watching your face. You came in a rush, at the feeling and he groaned, dipping his head to catch your cum with his tongue.

He stood up and grabbed your thighs, lifting you up and thrusting his length roughly inside of you. 

“The condom” you managed to gasp.

He cursed internally until you had an idea. “You’ll pull out” and that was enough for him to continue. 

He started thrusting at a very rough pace. The hot sound of skin slapping on skin filled your ears and it was by far the hottest sound you’ve ever heard. 

JJ was ecstatic with all of this. He dreamed about this moment his whole life. He looked at you and couldn’t contain the moan leaving his lips when you threw your head back and touched yourself, rubbing your clit. Shit, he’d had hot sex, but not like this, not this kind of hot. Your nipples rubbed sensually over his chest and you finally gripped him like a vice, and he knew you were about to finish.

“I- JJ” you moaned.

He continued hitting that spot that made you see stars.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum, tell me you’re close too” he said. 

You rubbed your finger over his lips, and he bit it. “Fuck yes, but don’t stop, not just yet” you said.

“Shit, babe, we can do it again, I just can’t hold it” he said, gritting his teeth. 

You moaned arching your back, coming around his length and he thrusted once, twice and a third time before he pulled out and spilled on your stomach. Once he was done, you pushed him inside you again, making him moan delicately against your neck. 

You were left panting, head resting on the tiles. His head rested on your shoulder trying to catch his breath.

“That was hot” you muttered, making him laugh.

“That it was“ he said, kissing your shoulder and pulling out.

Your feet reached the bathroom floor and you almost slipped from the soreness between your thighs. He caught you just in time and then smirked proudly.

“Yeah, don’t be so smug about it, will ya?” you said.

You finished cleaning yourselves up and then went undercovers, naked. You sighed as soon as your head hit the pillow and you laid there watching JJ dry himself with a towel. You bit your lip, he was so good looking, that you could just stare at him for the rest of your life. He turned around and found you watching.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” he joked.

“Nah, I’m doing good with the real thing” you said, with a sigh.

He chuckled and joined you in the bed. He looked at you and kissed your forehead. “I honestly can’t believe this happened” JJ said.

You smiled and put your arms around him. 

“I’ve spent almost my whole life fancying you, and now that I got you… I just can’t believe it’s real” he said. 

You pecked his lips at his words. 

“I didn’t know you’d turn out to be a sappy motherfucker once we got together” you laughed. He laughed back and he tugged the sheet up to his chest. “But yeah, I did fancy you too. I watched you with all those girls, my heart breaking every time I saw you with them. I just thought, like, why would such a great guy like you would want a girl like me” you laughed humorlessly. 

He sighed. “Well, I had to watch you with all those guys so I guess we’re even. I started hooking up with random girls because you started to do that and it broke my heart”

The blonde stared at you and you started tracing random patterns on his chest.

“Well, no more of that. We’ll have each other and nothing more than each other” you said.

He nodded. “Of course”

You smiled and you fell into a deep silence, just the sounds of your breathing mixing with his. 

“Do you remember when you dated Tommy Brown in freshman?” JJ said suddenly.

You laughed. “I do, God what was I thinking. He cheated on me with that kook cheerleader. He was basically accused of treason to Pogues. He changed schools after that” you said, reminiscing your freshman years. 

“I beat the shit out of that guy,” JJ said simply.

You looked at him, eyebrows furrowed, lifting your head slightly to catch at least a glimpse of his face. “That was you?”

“Nobody messes with my girl” JJ shrugged. “ I also got help from John B, so. That guy deserved it”

You nodded. “He was my first boyfriend. After him, I promised myself not to date guys and just hook up with random people because boys can betray you when you less expect it”

JJ caressed your arm up and down, turning around to watch you. “Well, I can promise you I won’t do that. I’ve wanted you for a long ass time, I’d be an idiot to let you go”

You smiled and grabbed his chin, pulling him into a kiss. The kiss got heated, once you put your arms around his neck, pulling him on top of you. He grabbed your legs, making them wrap around him, and you felt him getting hard between you. You pulled away, to catch your breath.

“Are we doing this again?” you smirked at him, biting your lip. 

He bit your lip, freeing it from your teeth, making you moan.

“Get ready baby, if we’re gonna do this, I don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting to fuck you” he said boldly.

You suddenly pushed him, so that you were on top of him. 

“Oh, I’m not complaining” you said.

Then you grabbed his erection and pushed him inside of you. The position made you see stars and he moaned, grabbing your hips, trying to steady you.

After that, you went again for 2 more times. The soreness between would be a screaming reminder tomorrow.


	15. No Time To Die

You woke up with the ray of light that peaked through the window going straight to your eyes. You groaned and stretched your sore legs, you almost wince because of it. You sighed, opening your eyes and checking what hour it was on the clock resting on the nightstand. A pair of lips started to run down your neck, deliciously dropping kisses along your skin, you put your hand in his hair, combing it with your fingers, giggling softly. You smiled and turned around to find JJ’s messy hair and sleepy smile watching you. 

“Good morning, baby” he smiled, the sleepy voice sounding sexier than anything, his hand drawing patterns on the skin of your thigh.

You smiled and pecked his lips. “Good morning, handsome”

“So, last night happened, huh?” you said, smirking, your fingers still threaded through his hair.

He let out a breathy sigh. “Multiple times, right?” he asked cockily.

“Oh, yeah, I can barely move, you got your answer right there” you said, stretching your legs and wincing. 

He smiled cockily and kissed you, pulling you on top of him. His hands dropped to your ass cheeks, rubbing them softly beneath the thin sheet covering your bodies. The kisses got more and more heated until a knock on the door interrupted you. You sighed, irritated, dropping your head on his shoulder. 

“People love knocking on the door when we’re in the middle of something,” JJ whispered.

“It’s me, Pope, get your ass up, JJ” he said and then you heard footsteps, meaning that he had walked away.

You sighed, rubbing a hand over your face. “We have some minutes to spare” JJ suddenly said, and flipped both of you so that he was on top of you now. That made you yelp and then laugh. He put his lips on you and it got heated by the minute.

Meanwhile Pope and Kie were making themselves a sandwich for breakfast when they heard the headboard of the bed knock repeatedly against the wall. The noise made both of them startle and look at each other, disgusted.

“Okay, what the hell is happening” Pope asked.

Kie laughed.

Pope realized what was happening and Kie could tell by the way his eyes widened and he blushed. “Oh crap not when we’re here” he groaned. 

Kie laughed. “I can wait to confront them about this later.” she whistled.

When the noises had stopped, minutes later, you and JJ opened the door of the room where you had slept and walked up the hall. He started kissing your neck and grabbing your ass. You giggled and thank God you were in his shirt and he was in his cargo shorts because you didn't expect Pope and Kie to be right there in the kitchen, looking at you with a smirk on their faces. You and JJ stood frozen, looking at your two friends. 

Kie started inspecting your appearance, hickeys littered all over your neck, unsteady walk, messy hair, JJ’s shirt, yep, you had definitely slept with him.

“Hey, guys, how’s everything going?” you said, trying to appeal nonchalant, running a hand through your hair. “You had a good night?’

“Better than yours? I doubt it” Kie winked, making you blush.

JJ laughed and went to grab something from the fridge. 

“shut up” you mumbled, wiping a hand over your face.

You then went outside to take a look at the new hot tub, while Kie was climbed up on the machine they were gonna use to grab the gold.

“How’s it feeling?” Pope asked from the ground.

“Feels good” she answered.

You and JJ sat on the edge of the hot tub, your legs submerged in the water.

“John B pulling a Houdini” JJ said when they realized that your best friend was nowhere to be found.

“Yeah, where is he?” you asked, running a hand through your hair. “He said he went fishing with Ward but he should be here by now”

“I got my scholarship interview tomorrow,” Pope said. “We gotta get this done”

John B suddenly appeared out of nowhere walking down to the Chateau, looking at nothing. 

“Speak of the devil, hey!” you said, waving at your friend.

“Dude, I set up the entire winch to pull up the gold and everything” JJ said. 

“No, he did not, I did it” Pope said, rolling his eyes at the blonde.

He wasn’t looking at anyone, he just got inside of the Chateau. 

“Hey, JB!” you said concerned about the way he was acting.

“Okay, that’s it?” JJ asked.

“What was that all about?” you asked, getting out of the hot tub, putting your slippers on again.

“I was gonna ask you the same question” JJ said, getting out of it too.

The four of you got inside of the Chateau to find John B searching for something, while at it, throwing things to the ground and messing up his whole place.

“You alright man? What’s- what’s up?” Pope asked from behind him.

“What are you looking for?” Kie asked.

“Bro, what’s going on?” JJ asked. 

You saw that he grabbed the gun that JJ had stolen from the motel and your eyes widened.

“John B what do you need the gun for?” he asked. “Talk to us!”

JJ went to grab him but John B was quick to push him on the pull out bed from the couch. 

“Hey, John B!” you said, helping your boyfriend get up. He put his red cap on again and tried to follow him.

“What are you, JJ now?” Pope asked but John B pushed him so he fell on top of the table, almost falling to the floor.

“Are you okay?” Kie asked him. You all followed John B out of the house. 

You saw how he hopped on JJ’s motorcycle, gun in his pocket.

“John B what the hell!” you yelled at him, running over to him. “What’s going on?”

“Ward knows about the gold!” he spoke out finally, looking over his shoulder.

You stood frozen in your place, not knowing what to do.

“He killed my dad” he said, looking back at you.

He sped off to god knows where and you stood there frozen, JJ and Pope next to you. Kie ran to get him but it was too late. 

“Shit” JJ said, kicking a rock.    
  
  
  
  
  
  


That same night you decided to go to Ward’s, check up if John B was there. You and the guys were on the HMS Pogue deciding what to do.

“What now? We just go up the front door and ask, ‘Hey, have you seen John B?’” JJ asked.

“Look, he lives in Tannyhill now, it’s plausible,” Kie said. “We can play dumb”

“Play dumb?” you asked. “He’s an asshole, not stupid, Kie”

“It’s pretty late” Pope asked.

“Is it past your bedtime?” you said, looking at him with an eyebrow raised, rubbing your arms up and down to cease the cold. 

Kie rolled her eyes, sighing. “Look, I’ve never seen John B like that. We should honestly go to the cops” she said.

“The cops? Yeah, and saw what, Kie?” you asked her. 

“We’re worried about our friend because he’s going off on a rampage because Ward Cameron killed Big John? Like, they’re not going to believe us” JJ said, and you nodded along with him.

“Ward has the police wrapped up in his little finger, whatever we say, whether it’s true or false, he will always get away with it” you said.

Pope grabbed his binoculars and then saw Ward walking inside of his house. “Hey, I see Ward”

You and JJ looked at each other and walked by to where the boy was standing. 

“Let me see,” you said, and he handed you the binoculars. 

“Doesn’t look dead to me, let’s go home” Pope said. 

“Wait, what?” Kie asked. 

“Uh, okay, obviously, Mr. Cameron is fine, and even if John B was here, he isn’t now, okay?” he said. You looked at him incredulously. “Plus, I have the biggest, most important moment of my life in six hours”

”Yeah, well, our friend is in trouble” Kie said, getting annoyed.

“I’m in trouble” Pope said. “Guys, I haven’t been home in three days. My dad’s probably put all my shit on the street by now”

“Okay, so that’s it?” Kie asked him. “In a time of need, you’re just gonna bail? You’re just gonna walk away?”

“Okay, yo, guys, can we not do this right now?” JJ asked. Kie looked at him and shook her head.

Pope sighed. “Hey, I have a scholarship interview in the morning, I can’t-” he started but Kiara cut him off.

“Okay, but what about John B?” she asked him. 

Pope huffed and rolled his eyes. “Why is it always about John B, huh?” 

You and JJ stood there watching, not knowing what to do, arms crossed over your chest while JJ fiddled with his cap. 

“It’s not always about John B” Kie defended herself. “You’re so stupid, it would be any of us in this situation” Kie said, pointing at you and JJ.

“Oh, bullshit” Pope said.

“Guys--” you tried but they interrupted you.

“This is about friendship” Kie yelled at him.

“Bring it down,” JJ said, trying to calm them down. 

Kie looked at Pope, “This is about Pogues for life”

“What about forensic pathology, huh?” Pope said.

“Forensic pathology?” she asked confusedly. 

“It’s my life. Everything I’ve worked for” Pope said.

They started yelling at each other back and forth, you and JJ looking at them helplessly. You didn't know what the hell to do to just shut them up.

“Pope, come on” JJ said.

“No, she has no room to talk. Where were you when Big John went missing, huh? You weren’t there, you weren’t there for John B, you weren’t there for any of us” he spat in her face.

“Okay, Pope, I think that’s enough,” you said.

“Remember your kook year?” Pope dug even harder. 

“Hey! Pope…” you yelled at him. 

“Dude” JJ said. 

“Yeah, you forgot about us. Now you feel guilty” he said.

“Give me a break” Kie said and pushed him.

You stood up quickly. “Hey”

They started pushing each other and you and JJ jumped up to break them apart. “Hey, come on. Cut it out” he said, grabbing Pope, while you grabbed Kie. “If I’m the one mediating, we’ve hit rock bottom” he said.

Pope looked at him, a scowl on his face. 

“Bow, now” you said to him, pointing to the front of the boat. .

JJ situated himself in the driver’s seat. “Pope, I’ll drop you off” 

He looked at you and rubbed his hand up your arm affectionately. . 

“You okay?” he asked, concerned, eyebrows furrowing. 

You nodded and smiled at him. “Yeah, I’m gonna check on…” you trailed off signaling to Kie. He nodded and you went to sit down with Kie, putting an arm around her, bringing her head to rest on your shoulder. She sighed and wrapped her other arm around your waist, the other one resting on top of your leg. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


After you dropped Pope and Kie off, and then leave the HMS Pogue at the Chateau, you decided to walk with JJ home. He grabbed your hands and linked them together. You smiled, resting your head on his arm as you walked.

“Those two are terrible. I don’t know when Pope’s gonna admit that he likes her” you said, laughing softly.

JJ nodded. “Well, it took us a really long time so… knowing him? He’ll last for about ten years” he said, making you laugh again.

“Well I’m glad you finally told me” you said smiling up at him.

“I didn’t exactly tell you, you kissed me” JJ smirked.

“I was trying to save our asses” you defended yourself, shrugging your shoulders. 

“Yeah sure” he said.

You laughed. “Well, I gotta admit, you looked great in that suit”

“And you in that dress?” he said and then whistled. “My god”

“Yeah, I noticed that, you had your hand shoved right under it” you said, making him laugh. 

The laugh died down and you chose to enjoy the silence between the two of you. JJ soon broke it.

“What are you going to do with your mom?” he asked.

You bit your lip and sighed. “Well, I plan on ignoring her for a couple of days, maybe weeks. Then, when I’m ready, I’ll want to hear her excuses” you said simply. “It really hurt me… all this drama, you know? I need time for things to soothe”

He nodded. He put his arm around your shoulder, pulling you close to kiss the side of your head. “Okay” he said, making you smile at him. “Whatever you do, I support you”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The next day you were at the Chateau with Kie, JJ and John B at the dock. You heard as John B told you how Ward Cameron had taken everything, including the property of the Crain’s. You sighed, a hand wiping your face.

“You sure he took everything?” you asked him, looking at the water, feeling down for all the things you lived through the last couple of days.

“Every bar” John B said from the floor. “The whole enchilada”

“Fucking Ward Cameron” you sighed. 

All of a sudden, John B grabbed his cast and took it off from his arm. 

“It’s not like I expected a happy ending or some shit” he said, throwing the cast far away.

“John B--” you started. 

“What, Y/N? It’s a hairline fracture. Who cares?“ he said.

“You should care, your arm’s gonna be messed up for life” you told him. 

He lifted his arm, not even bothering to look at you.

“It’s fine, see?” he said and you were about to protest but you decided to shut up and stop arguing with him. 

Footsteps approaching were heard at the dock and a voice yelling made all of you startle.

“Guys!” Pope yelled. “Oh, oh God, I ran all the way here” he said, panting.

“You all right?” you asked.

“How was the interview, Pope?” JJ asked. 

“Don't ask” he grunted.

You couldn’t help but snort at his answer. 

“JB” Pope panted, “Look, I’m sorry dude about everything” he said.

“It’s fine” JB said from the floor, eyes closed.

“But, but I don’t have a lot of time and-- and I have information that is tactically relevant. So before I had my interview my dad said he was going down to the private airstrip to cut palms for Cameron’s big plane. Because it was too heavy” Pope said. The maths started resulting inside of your head and your eyes widened. “It needed a longer landing airstrip to take off. So, I’m there sitting in my interview, thinking to myself, ‘Hm, why would Cameron need a longer airstrip to take off?’ What could be so heavy to weigh it down?” 

John B sat up, the ideas clicking in your head. 

“Gold,” JJ said.

“That’s right” John B said.

“Exactly!” Pope said excitedly, jumping in his place, “Guys, this is our chance, but it leaves tonight, and we have to go” he said.

You looked at John B, smirking. 

“Guys, we can’t give up now” Kie said, jumping off the railing where she was sitting on. 

“So, what’s the plan, big man?” you asked your brother, smiling, hand on your hip.

“We’re gonna steal that shit back” John B said.

“Fuck yeah we are” you said happily. 

You along with the others started running to the Chateau.

“Come on!” 

  
  
  
  
  
  


You all jumped into the van and made your way to the Cameron’s private airstrip, ready to steal that motherfucker’s gold.

“We go in there, guns-a-blazing, make Ward Cameron beg for mercy, abscond with as much gold as possible and  _ vamonos,  _ get the hell out of here” JJ said, tinkering around with the gun and bullets.

“Down the intracoastal” John B said.

“Wait for weather” you added.

“Exit to Cuba” Pope finished.

“Cuba? No, man, Xcalak, Jewel of Yucatan. Lobsters so thick, mangoes, no word for money” he said, cocking his gun. 

“You’ll never stop blabbering about Yucatan, will you?” you asked laughing.

“Oh, never, baby” he winked. 

“Let’s do this shit” John B said.

You arrived at the airstrip and you quickly got out of the van along with the guys. 

“What’s the plan? Broad strokes” Kie said.

“I don’t think we got that far” John B said.

You got to the lattice, the plane sitting there on the airstrip. Pope took out his binoculars and inspected the scene. 

“They’re loading up the gold” he said.

John B took the binoculars from his hand. 

“There’s Ward,” he said. Suddenly he took off the binoculars from his eyes and stared at the plane, his face unreadable.

“What?” you asked. 

“It’s Sarah” he muttered.

“She’s with him?” you asked him. 

He put his binoculars back to the level of his eyes. “Wait a minute, he’s hurting her”

“What?” Kie asked.

“They’re fighting” he said. “Holy shit”

“Let me see” you said, grabbing the binoculars. John B walked away from the lattice and to the van. 

“Where are you going?” Pope asked. 

“John B?” you asked, turning around.

“Hey! Hey” you all started yelling at your friend, who was trying to frantically open the door of the vehicle. 

He started the van and you knew what he was trying to do, break the lattice and go straight to where the plane was. JJ grabbed your arm, and pulled you away, so that John B wouldn’t roll you over. 

“Don’t be a hero!” JJ yelled but it was way too late. He started running towards the broken lattice. “What are you doing?”

You started running towards JJ, the other following behind you.

“John B! Get back, man” you yelled. 

You watched as John B sped off through the airstrip, following Ward’s plane. He got faster, passing the plane and then he did a turn so that he faced the plane. The plane stopped right in time, before hitting John B’s van. You grabbed JJ’s hand to hold yourself up. JJ pulled you close, and he suddenly heard the cop siren. You looked at him, trying to see what he was thinking. 

“Oh fuck, fuck fuck! The cops” you whispered. “Who the fuck called the cops!?” 

“Guys, I can’t get arrested” Pope said.

“I’m on probation,” JJ said.

“Look, we’re no good if we’re all in jail” Kie said.

You rubbed JJ’s arm, cause you knew he was afraid to end up in jail again. 

“Come on” Pope said, starting to run forward with Kiara.

JJ grabbed his cap and his gun. You stared at the scene and you felt a hand tugging yours. 

“Babe, come on” JJ said, and you run off with him, the guys way ahead of you. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will be the last :(


	16. Getaway Car

When you finally found a place where the cops wouldn’t see you, it was an old storage near the airstrip, you heard the sound of an airplane flying. It was obviously Ward’s plane.

You sighed, your eyes getting teary. 

“There goes the gold, shit!” JJ said and then kicked a box that was next to him. 

The sound of Pope throwing things made the three of you startle and look behind your backs. He started throwing things and yelling. “Fuck!”

“Pope, what the hell?” you said, watching in shock your best friend’s rage.

“God dammit. Shit! Fuck!” he said, grabbing a baseball bat that was thrown in there, hitting everything with it. 

You and JJ looked at each other in shock. 

”Pope!” Kie yelled at him.

He sat down, calming himself down, starting to hyperventilate. He then started to cry.

“Pope” you said softly, walking over to him. 

“Yeah dude, I was wondering when this was gonna happen” JJ said, in typical JJ fashion. You looked at him, an eyebrow raised. 

He came closer to the boy and handed him out his juul.

“Here you go, chief” he said.

He looked at it, not knowing what to do with it.

“A little weed never hurt no one” you said agreeing with JJ.

Kie rolled her eyes beside you. “Y/N, JJ” she said sternly. 

“Relax, Kie” you said, grabbing her hand.

“You know he doesn’t smoke” she said softly.

Pope grabbed the juul from the blonde’s hand and you watched his face, trying to figure out what he was going to do next.

“Well, maybe not until today” you said.

JJ sat next to him. “Pope” Kie said. “Yeah, what is that gonna help?” 

He looked like he wanted to cry. “I lost my scholarship. I walked out in the middle of the interview” he said. “Every- it’s gone, it’s not gonna happen”

“You did that for us?” Kie asked. 

“No, not for us” he said and he stood up to face Kie. “For nothing” he spat in her face. 

“I’m here for you, Pope” JJ said, grabbing his friend’s shoulders. “Welcome to my world, okay?”

“JJ--” Kie started but he cut her off.

“What Kie? He’s right, it doesn’t matter anymore” JJ said. 

  
Pope rested his head on a wall and took a drag of the juul. 

“You don’t have to do that” Kie said.

He blew out the smoke and looked at the girl. “What do you care?” 

“John B” you said, looking at him when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Everyone turned around to see you. You saw his bloody hands and gasped. “Oh god, are you okay?” you ran to him.

“Dude, you okay?” JJ ran with you, the others following behind.

You grabbed his bloody hands. “Is this yours? Are you bleeding?” you asked frantically.

His face screamed  _ shock _ and you didn’t know what to do to get him to talk to you. The cops sirens were heard and you quickly hid behind a pile of shit that was piled up on the floor, big enough for the five of you to be well hidden without anyone else seeing you. 

  
  
  


Late that night, John B had told Kie to drive past the police station.

“John B, what are we doing at the police station?” you asked from JJ’s lap.

“Somebody’s gotta tell them what happened” John B said shakily.

Pope continued smoking from the juul and then he started coughing. 

“Easy there, chief” you said patting his back. 

“Damn” JJ said. 

You saw John B’s sad expression and you hugged him from the back seat. He lightly put his head back so yours touched his. JJ put his hand on his shoulder.

“All right, I’m just gonna be real with you right now“ he said. “You might end up in the lion’s den, but you don’t go there on purpose. It’s fundamental. Just like my old man always told me, you should never trust cops, no matter what circumstance is” he said ‘wisely’.

“Your old man’s an abusive liar” Kie said from the front seat. 

“I agree with JJ, fuck the police” Pope interfered.

You snorted. “You going to the dark side now?” you said resuming your spot on JJ’s lap, which he gladly put his arm around your waist.

“When’s the last time the police ever helped us?“ Pope said.

“Peterkin looked out for me, all right?” John B finally spoke up. “Tried to, at least. They need to know” he whispered.

He got out of the car, ready to go inside the police station. You stayed inside with the guys, JJ resting his head on your chest. 

A couple of minutes later, John B came running from the station. “Kie! Start the car!” he yelled.

“Oh shit, not again” you groaned. “What did you do?” you yelled at him.

“The cops! The cops!” he yelled back.

“What?” Kie asked confusedly.

“Just drive!” John B yelled. 

“Okay, I’m going!” Kie yelled, starting the car and driving away quickly.

A deputy came into view from the window and you gasped.

“Quickly!” John B said.

“Stop the car!” the officer demanded running along with the car. “Pull over”

“Open it!” you suggested.

He did as you told him, the deputy falling to the ground with a tud and a groan.

You all stayed silent, the heavy breathing was the only thing that you all could hear. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“ _ Good news for residents of the Outer Banks. Dominion power says the underwater transmission line which will restore power to 90% of the area should be functional for 24 hours _ ” the radio transmitted.

It was the day after the police encounter, and you were resting inside Kie’s car, on top of JJ, your face on his neck, sleeping soundly.

JJ suddenly sat up, making you almost fall from your place but he caught you quickly. “What happened?” you asked, rubbing your eyes.

“Just cop sirens, babe” he whispered, a cigarette dangling from his lips. You took it from his mouth, putting it in yours and taking a drag before blowing out the smoke. 

“ _ And still, no arrest in the shooting death of Sheriff Susan Peterkin. The state police have issued a statement regarding a local person of interest, a juvenile from--”  _ Kie turned off the radio abruptly.

“Let’s game this out. Maybe you guys can help, being the smart ones and all but… who are the cops going to believe? Ward Cameron or us?” JJ asked. “So the accuser is a bigshot developer, kind of lord of the island, got the governor on speed dial kind of person, and the accused… is John B, who is, pretty much of a homeless 16-year-old boy at the moment” he said.

You slapped his chest, huffing.

“Thanks” John B whispered to his friend.

“Okay man, Yucatan, all right? I’m saying that’s the only option, what other option do you have?” JJ started.

“JJ. Enough with the Mexico bullshit, all right? Sarah will bail me out” john B said.

“She did witness the whole scene” Kie nodded along.

“And she’s gonna snitch on her brother?” you asked. 

JJ sat up slightly, puffing out the air he inhaled from the cigarette. “Not happening bro”

You grabbed the cigarette and took a drag of it too. 

“We’ve gotta get you out of the island” JJ said. 

“The ferry, that’s the only way” Pope said. 

“Yeah, exit stage left while you still can, man. Before the entire island gets in lockdown” he said.

“Hey get down” you said.

The police sirens could be heard from the street right behind you and you ducked your head down. 

“Sarah’s not a pogue, John B” you tried to argue with him.

“Yeah, you can’t stay here, man” JJ said. 

Later, Pope drove Kie’s car with all of you inside, down to where the posters with John B’s reward was posted. Pope got out of the car to grab one of them. He walked back to the car with a sigh.

“No, okay, then” he started.

“Can you be discreet?” you asked him.

“Pope, can you act normal?” Kie asked from the passenger’s seat.

“So, okay--” he said while getting inside of the car. “Bad news, ferry’s closed and there is this--“ he said, handing out the paper. You grabbed it, so that everyone could see. 

“25k?” you almost yelled.

“Well, John B. this is a good framer of you” JJ said sarcastically.

He barely looked at it. You shook his head at the blonde, trying not to get him to say more comments.

“Okay so, the whole island’s looking for John B right now” you said.

“That’s a lot of money” Kie said.

“Congratulations, John B, you’re now famous” JJ said.

“Guys we need to get to the HMS. We need small, no running lights--” Kie started.

“It’s at the Chateau, Kie” John B said. 

“And I wonder if the cops got the entire place staked out. Let me think, oh yeah no, they definitely have that place locked down” JJ said sarcastically.

“Yep, copy that” you said, from his lap. You suddenly had an idea, making you turn around on his lap, to look at him. “JJ”

“Yeah” 

“Does your dad still have that boat? The cigarette boat, the Phantom?” you asked him. “The one he used to race”

“Maybe” he said unsure.

“You could get right up the coast, no problem” Pope joined. 

“It’s not going to be easy, I don’t even know where the keys are” JJ said.

“We’ll find them” you reassured him.

“I’m thinking” JJ said.

“Why is nobody moving forward?” Pope asked with a weird tone.

“Can you relax?” Kie asked from beside him. “JJ, how much weed did you give him?” Kie asked rather loudly, making John B shush her. 

“Your car’s on the poster” John B told Kie.

Pope started honking the car and everyone moved to shush the boy.

“Pope!” you yelled.

“Can we move please?” He asked, high as fuck. He continued honking.“Come on!”

“Don’t honk the horn” Kie said.

You suddenly saw a little kid pointing at John B and you froze.

“Shit” you said.

“We got a snitch. Pope, turn the car on” JJ said.

“We get 25k if we find him” the kid started saying.

“Fucking kid. Pope come on!” you yelled at the boy sitting on the passenger’s seat. 

A guy started banging on the window, and John B turned over quickly, covering his face.

“Turn the car on!” JJ yelled at Pope.

“Pope turn the freaking car on”

“I’m trying!” he said.

The car suddenly started, the car hitting the one in front of Kie’s. You were almost sent flying through the window but JJ caught you just in time before you hit the back of the driver’s seat. 

“Jeez Pope, you almost sent the girl flying” Kie said, looking at you.

Pope accelerated, going through the middle of the street onto the sidewalk, and speeding off to far away from where the crowd was standing. 

“Pope, please, slow down, man” you said, clinging to JJ’s neck so that next time you wouldn’t be near death.

“Watch out, Pope, watch out, Pope, Pope!” Kie yelled but it was too late because he hit a warning sign right beside the street. 

Pope was ecstatic but everyone else was fearing for their lives.

“I’m living my best life right now” he yelled.

“What the fuck? You want us to die?” you yelled.

“I should be the last to say this but you are not okay to drive, stop!” JJ said. 

Suddenly he hit the brakes and JJ’s arm tightened around you so you wouldn’t repeat history. 

“John B get out” Pope said sternly.

“Dude he’s right” JJ said. 

“We’ll draw the cops, you run” you said.

“I’ll get the rig and I’ll meet you in the dump tomorrow, all right?” JJ said. “Three o’clock okay? Three at the dump”

He nodded and you watched your best friend getting out of the car and running off to the forest.

“Go, go, go, come on” you said to Pope. You preferred to stay in your boyfriend’s lap, and he seemed like he liked the idea too. 

An hour later, it was JJ’s idea, as always, to smoke the rest of his juul and you obviously accepted, so there you were, the three of you, except Kie, getting high as hell.

“Pope, you clocked that car, man. Like, that was so bad” JJ said. You were on his lap, now straddling him, laughing about his comment. 

“I almost flew out of the window” you giggled.

“You  _ almost  _ did, I saved your ass, baby” he said, pecking your lips.

Pope was taking a drag of the juul. “I’m just glad I’m not driving now” he said. You and JJ laughed at him. 

Kie looked at him like he couldn’t believe him. “Pull over”

He did as he was told and pulled over abruptly.

“JJ, Y/N, it’s not funny. He shouldn't be driving” she said getting out of the car.

“Mama’s mad” you said, looking at the blonde. 

Kie got in the driver’s seat and started the car. “Where are we going?” JJ asked, with a cigarette in his hand.

“The last place they’re gonna look” she said.

He nodded, and passed the cigarette to you. “Wanna make out?” JJ asked you boldly. You giggled and you were about to kiss him but Kie cut you off.

“No!” she said. 

You both groaned and you took a drag of the blunt, pouting. 

Kie then pulled up to god knows where, you were too high to figure it out. 

“You sure this is a good idea?” JJ asked. 

“She’s the only one who can clear John B” she responded. 

Pope got out of the car too and then they climbed to the other side of… the Cameron’s house.

“Last place they’ll look because of how stupid it is” he said.

You sighed, trying to get your mind to focus on what they were doing.

“Wanna make out now?” you asked.

He grinned at you and flipped you over the seat so that he was hovering you. You giggled and connected your lips together in a passionate kiss. 

  
  
  
  


The next day you woke up at The Wreck, you had decided with the crew that the best option to sleep properly was at Kie’s parents’ restaurant.

You heard a noise close to clicking and you woke up. You saw JJ and Pope talking and you turned your head to find your best friend sleeping soundly on the bench. You smiled and stood up, groaning at the soreness of your muscles. 

“He’s pinched for sure, man” JJ said.

“They wouldn’t be patrolling if they got him” Pope said.

“Let’s hope” the blonde said.

“You know, we were in that car. They’re probably looking for us too” you said. They turned around to look at you and JJ stretched an arm, a sign for you to wrap your arms around him and cuddle. You smiled at your boyfriend and cuddled close to him. 

Kie woke up too and stretched her arms above her head. Pope noticed that she had woken up and his jaw visibly clenched. 

“Well, if we’re gonna be outlaws too, we might as well help John B” Pope said.

“So find him before they do?” JJ asked.He didn’t answer, he just went to grab JJ’s bike keys and headed towards the door. 

“Pope, where are you going?” you said, turning around on your spot, JJ’s arm never leaving your side.

“I’m gonna get gas for the boat” he said, not even bothering to look at you and him.

“Hey, you be careful” Kie said softly. He didn’t smile or say anything back. “Okay?”

He glared at her and then turned around to face you and JJ. “You two, meet me at the dock at three, don’t be late” he said and then he was out of the door.

You and JJ looked at each other and then at Kie. She got out of the door, following him, you and JJ decided to stay inside of The Wreck. 

“You know what happened?” you asked him.

He shook his head. “No idea”

“Well, let’s go find out” you said, grabbing his hand and walking out of the Wreck.

“Look, I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings” Kie said.

What was she talking about? Pope was reviving the engine on purpose so that he couldn’t hear what she had to say.

“What was that?” he said.

“Look I’m sorry--” Kie said but Pope did it again. “I didn’t mean to”, he did it again.

“I can’t hear you” he said.

“I’m trying to talk to you” she yelled but then he was gone.

“What was that about?’ you asked the girl but the sound of a helicopter landing near where you were made you turned around. “Who is that?” you asked.

“Was gonna ask the same thing” JJ answered.

You all noticed it was the SBI and sighed. This was getting even worse than it already was.

You then got inside of the Wreck to grab food for John B and Sarah. You decided that it was a great time to ask Kie about it.

“You sure he wasn’t just being weird Pope?” you asked Kiara.

“It wasn’t really the kind of thing that needed interpretation” Kie said, grabbing more food to put in the boxes. “Is that going to be enough food for them?”

“I mean for a couple of weeks, and that’s all they need, so…“ JJ trailed off. 

Kie had a thoughtful face on and you grew concerned for your friend.

“Look, I think I actually hurt his feelings” she said.

You sighed. “Don’t beat yourself so much about it, Kie” you said softly.

“He’s completely changed his feels. The past 24 hours have been like Jekyll and Hyde” he said.

You snorted. “Do you even know what that is?”

“Don’t be Missy smarty pants on me, baby” he laughed.

Kie rolled her eyes. “I hate to admit it but I miss the old Pope” she said, walking up to her car. “At least I knew what to expect from him” 

Suddenly Kiara’s mom appeared out of nowhere, almost making you drop the food boxes that you had with you.

“Where you been” she asked. Her face showed how concerned she was about her daughter.

“Uh, I’m fine, I slept here” she said.

You and JJ continued putting the food boxes inside of the trunk and tried to ignore whatever Kie and her mom were talking about.

“Well, we were up half the night, scared to death, looking for you” Kie’s mom said, with her hands on her hips. “Were you even gonna tell us?” she asked, and now she looked at JJ and you too. 

“Well, I’m telling you right now” Kie said. 

“Okay, what the hell is up with you three?” she asked.

“Uh…-” you started but JJ cut you off.

“I’m sorry Miss Anna, we gotta go” JJ said. 

“Sorry” you tried.

“No, I’m sorry, absolutely not” her mom said. “Y/N, does your mom know about this?” she asked you.

“I- no, she doesn’t” you said quietly, not wanting to remember your mom right now.

“Have you three heard what’s going on?” her mom asked. 

“Mom, I’ll explain later” Kie said. You and JJ got into the car.

“Have you seen the storm?” she asked. 

“Mom, I’m sorry but I have to go” 

“It’s not safe out there” her mom started yelling. “These cops are armed Kiara, you’re gonna get shot” she said.

“Mom, I’ll be fine” Kie reassured her.

“I’m not letting you do this”

“MOM! John B needs me”

It turned out to be a screaming match and you winced inwardly, Kie didn’t argue with her mom very often and when she did, it wasn’t a pleasant thing to see.

You noticed JJ looking at Kie and her mom arguing and you knew what he was thinking about. This won’t ever happen to him, having parents that worry about him. You extended your arm from the backseat to the passenger’s seat where he was sitting and offered your hand. He took it without even looking at you and squeezed it firmly.

Kiara started the car, ignoring her mom’s screams. You closed your eyes and leaned your forehead on the seat. 

Now, you headed to JJ’s house cause he needed the keys to the Phantom, and you knew this wasn’t going to be easy for him. The whole ride, he was tense, so you kept a grip on his hand. When you arrived, JJ looked at his house, his eyes teary.

You sighed and moved your body forward so you were close to him.

“Home sweet home” he said sarcastically.

“Do you want me to come?” you asked him. He took out his cap and combed his hair with his fingers. “Cause I’ll come” you said softly, grasping his chin in your fingers.

“No.” he said sternly. “This will only take a second” he said, opening the door. 

“Hey” you called at him, before he got out of the car. 

He looked at you, and your eyes watered too.

“I love you” you said.

He smiled and kissed you. He leaned his forehead to yours for a moment, taking a deep breath. “I love you too”

JJ pecked your lips once more and then he got out of the car. 

You sighed looking at your boyfriend, entering the Lion’s den. Kie put a hand on your shoulder. “Hey, he’ll be okay”

You shook your head, pressing your lips together. 

A couple of minutes later, the sound of someone kicking the door open, startled you. You looked at JJ, keys on his hands. He didn’t have any marks or anything so you sighed in relief. He opened the door of the car and got in.

His eyes were teary, even more than when you left. “How’d it go?” you asked softly.

He sniffled and held the keys up. 

“You ok?” you asked him concerned. 

“Yeah, let’s go” he said, shaking his head and turning on his side to look out of the window.

Kie started the car and sped off to go look for the Phantom. 

The whole ride was silent, you tried to think of a way to make JJ talk to you about what happened in there and why he was crying.

JJ then broke the silence. “It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine with the Phantom, she’ll get out quick” he reassured the two of you.

“Well, I hope so” you said. 

Police sirens were heard and you turned your head to look forward and saw police SUVs coming on the other side of the road.

“Whoa, whoa” JJ said and all of you ducked their heads.

“They’re still looking, that’s a good sign,” you said.

Once you reached the storage where the Phantom was located, JJ opened the door and there it was. It didn’t look shiny or fantastic just like JJ described it but, it looked okay.

“There she be” JJ said, “Hey, girl. A 1983 Formula 402 SR1. The Phantom” JJ said clicking his tongue and looking at you two.

You raised your eyebrows. 

“The first boat to make the run to Bermuda in under 16 hours, Y/N” he said. “Forty years old! Forty” he said touching the boat. “And still the fastest thing Kildare’s ever seen” 

“It’s kind of a junker” Kie said.

“Yep” you confirmed. 

“Really? She’s right there, Kie. She can hear you” he whispered. You snorted and rolled your eyes. “Oh, don’t be jealous, baby” he said, winking at you.

“Oh, I’m not jealous, and less than less, of this…” you said pointing at the boat.

He sighed. “Let’s just put it this way. You would not be smoking weed right now if she never existed, all right?” he said.

“Well, I hope it runs” you said.

“Oh, no, she’ll run alright. She’s faster than any cutters the boys in blue got” he said.

The sound of a motorcycle approaching the storage made you and Kie sigh.

“Pope! Finally” you yelled at his direction.

Kie walked up to the door but was intercepted by Rafe and Barry. You gasped once you saw them.

“Hey, there. What’s going on?” Rafe said. “JJ, Y/N, how you guys doing-- woo whoo” Rafe whistled once he saw the Phantom.

Barry whistled too and looked at the boat. “Well, well…” he said.

You swallowed and JJ grasped your arm, pulling you closer to him. Barry clicked his gun, and pointed up at JJ, who held his arms up.

“See, don’t think I forgot about me and you on the side of the road” he said. “I’m here because I want my motherfucking money!” he said and punched him in the face.

“JJ!” you said and went to grab Barry but Rafe came and held you. You tried to punch him but it was impossible. Kie came in your rescue, throwing himself over Rafe but he shoved her, making her fall to the ground. 

You saw how Rafe grabbed JJ’s hair, lifting his head from the ground and shook him. “That’s why I’m here for” he said, then he shoved his head to the ground, making him groan in pain.

“It’s not you who we want, Y/N. We want your boyfriend and John B, where is he?” he asked you. 

“I don’t know!” You yelled and kicked him in the groin, making him free you, and you approached Barry who quickly pushed you, making you hit the boat and crash to the floor.

Rafe quickly got a hold of you again. “Stay down, boy” Barry said, kicking gently at JJ's stomach. 

“Rafe, I know what you did” you said. Kie on the floor, grabbed her head, and you sighed, looking at your friend, that was hurt.

“Oh, what did I do?” Rafe asked mockingly.

“You murdered Peterkin” you said, loudly enough.

JJ continued grunting from Barry’s punches.

Rafe turned you around and held your throat, tightly. 

“Y/N!” you heard JJ yell.

You grabbed Rafe’s arms, trying to pull him off you. “Don’t you ever say those fucking words again” he said, pulling you closer to his face.

“Rafe” you gasped.

“Do you understand me?” he asked, gripping your throat more tight, lifting you from the ground a little. “Where is John B?”

You saw Barry punching JJ over and over again, and it made you sob. 

“You don’t like seeing us beating up your boyfriend huh?” he said, mockingly.

You slapped him across the face with the little force you had in the moment. 

“Where’s John B?” he continued asking.

“I don’t know!” You yelled.

Kie came to rescue you but he dropped you to the ground and grabbed her throat instead. “You Kie, it’s your turn. Where’s John B?”

Suddenly Pope appeared out of nowhere and hit Rafe with a shovel on his back. “Don’t touch her!” he yelled again, and he hit his shoulder. 

You tried to stand up but the force that he used on your throat made you weaker. Pope continued punching Rafe over and over again.

“Hey!” Barry said, moving to punch Pope but JJ grabbed his ankle, making him stumble to the ground. The gun fell from his hand.

“Y/N, kick it!” he yelled at you.

You kicked it, with every ounce of energy you had, while JJ grabbed Barry and slammed him to the boat. He punched his face repeatedly and pushed him to the ground.

JJ grabbed your hands and you stumbled against his chest. 

“Pope! That’s enough!” JJ yelled at his friend.

Kie grabbed him, pulling him away from Rafe. He then grabbed something to strangle him. He did it with a piece of rope he found and you saw Rafe trying to get free. 

“Pope! Snap out of it” you yelled.

JJ left your side to grab his friend from behind, making him yell and push Rafe to the ground. He quickly gasped trying to recover the air that was taken out from his lungs. 

“We gotta go, come on” Kie said.

You tried to walk but from the pushes, and punches and Rafe’s grip on your throat you were exhausted. JJ grabbed you quickly, his hands coming to frame your face. “You okay?” he asked concerned.

You winced. “Yeah, kinda”

“Come on” he said, helping you walk. 

“Stay out off the Cut” Pope spat in Rafe’s face.

“Pope, let’s go” you said effortlessly.

  
  
  
  
  
  


You walked to the dock and you preferred to stay on the ground to regain your senses. The boat was parked on the water and everyone was putting the food inside the boat.

“Dude where is he?” Kie asked.

“Give him a second, he’ll be here” you said.

“He’s coming. He’ll be fine” JJ reassured her.

A police SUV approached the dock where you were and you panicked, standing up and trying to see who it was.

“JJ!” you yelled.

“Yeah. Get back on the boat” he said. “Get back on the boat, untie it” he said desperately.

You saw the door opening and John B coming out of the car. 

“Wait, don’t do anything. Look who it is” you sighed. 

“No way” JJ said, looking at his best friend.

“No effing way” Pope whistled.

“You gotta be kidding me” JJ said, getting out of the boat.

John B put on his backpack and walked up to where you all were. 

“Shoupe let me take it for a spin” he said.

“Of course he did” you laughed, hugging him tightly.

“How’re you sis?” he whispered.

“Other than the fact that we’re running from the cops, I’m fine. You?” you asked sarcastically.

He pulled out of the hug and kissed your forehead. “Fantastic” he said, not meaning it, of course.

“It wasn’t easy, bro. But I got the Phantom for you and she runs like she was made yesterday” JJ said, throwing the keys to John B, and he caught them. “You ready to go?”

“Where’s Sarah?” he asked.

“She’s not with you?” you asked.

“No, we got separated in the swamp. She said she’d meet me here.” he said.

“We haven’t seen her” Pope said.

“Well, I’m not leaving without her.” he said, stubbornly.

“John B look at me” JJ said, grabbing his shoulder. “I know you feel bad for leaving, but there’s no time, man. You got plenty of gas, plenty of food. Once you get around that point, it’s a straight shot across the sound to Dismal Swamp, okay? Once you get there, lay low. Hang out for a couple of weeks, and then go overland, cross the border at Brownsville, okay?” 

He wasn’t looking at him.

“Brownsville” he repeated. He grabbed his head, shaking him off his thoughts. “Hey, you got that?”

“Yeah, yeah. Brownsville” he said.

JJ jumped off the boat onto the dock. “All right, saddle her up, saltwater cowboy, let’s do this” 

John B climbed up the Phantom, his eyes watering.

“Hey, hey. I’m sorry for basically throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing.” he said. 

“Hey, John B, yo. We were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?” JJ asked. 

John B laughed, some tears falling.

“At least we did it together, though” you said, wrapping your arms around Pope and then JJ. JJ wrapped his arm around Kie and you. “Pogue style” you winked at him.

“Pogue style” John B whispered.

Your eyes got teary too and you sniffled.

“Get out of here, now!” you laughed at your brother.

“We’ll see you in two months, down in Mexico” Pope said.

“Love you” JJ said.

John B was about to get into the boat but stopped himself right before it. “Hey, wait a second” he said. “Tell Sarah I said goodbye, okay?”

You nodded, your tears falling down. “Of course, JB” you said.

“And you--” John B said pointing at JJ. “You hurt my sister, I’ll come down here just to kick your ass, you heard me?” he said.

JJ laughed and kissed your cheek. “I promise I won’t”

“Great” he nodded.

“Don’t forget. Cross the border at Brownsville, okay?” JJ yelled at him. 

“Got it” he said, jumping inside the boat.

You pushed the boat further, helping John B start it and then you watched your brother drive away. You stood there, watching him go away and you felt a pair of arms hugging you from behind.

“He’ll be okay” JJ said.

You turned around and hugged him, hiding your face into his neck. “I hope so” you whispered.

You walked hand in hand to rest against Kie’s car, and then wrapped your arms around him, your face against his chest, watching the sunset.

You then watched Kie and Pope kissing, your eyes widening. “Well, well” you smirked.

JJ looked at them and laughed. “Okay, I wasn’t expecting this, at all” 

The police sirens made you turn around and curse. 

“Hey, guys, sorry to ruin the moment but…” you trailed off, looking over your shoulder.

“We gotta go, right now” JJ said.

It was too late, of course. The cops had surrounded you and you knew you were fucked. The officers came out of the cars and they pointed at you with the gun. “Hands up! Hands up!” 

You all did as you were told.

Shoupe came out. “Let me talk to these kids, all right where is he?” he asked, looking around for John B. “where the hell is he?” he asked all of you. “JJ? I see you’re living up to your name, all right” Shoupe said and you scoffed. “Y/N, Pope? What about you, this isn’t a fucking game” he said impatiently. “You can do the right thing, where is he?”

“He’s gone” you replied, smirking at Shoupe. 

  
  
  


The cops drove all of you to the tent where they were looking for John B. You were sat on some chairs that were located at the side of the table. You sighed, running your hands through your hair, praying silently they didn’t find John B. JJ saw how tense you were, so he put a hand on your thigh, squeezing it lightly, to let you know he was there.

You smiled slightly at him and dropped your head on his shoulder.

A couple of minutes later you heard yells. “There they are!”

Your eyes widened and tried to see what was going on. Of course, you couldn’t see anything and it wasn’t like 20 minutes later, that Shoupe came in with a raincoat, coming to talk to you.

All of you stood up. “Where are they? Found them?” you asked desperately.

Shoupe was silent. “No.”

“So, they got away, right?” Kie asked.

“We uh… we lost them” he said.

Your stomach dropped down to the ground, unable to believe what he said.

“I’m sorry”

“What? Are you- are you fucking serious?” you yelled at him.

“You lost them? What do you mean you lost them? They’re gone?” Pope asked.

“They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Pope” Shoupe said.

“So they’re dead?” Kie asked quietly.

Shoupe took his time answering. “We don’t know”

You let out a sob.

“You drove them right through the storm, man!” JJ yelled at him, “Are you kidding me, come here!” he said and launched himself up to the man, ready to beat the hell out of him.

“JJ, stop!” you tried, pulling him away. 

“I’m gonna kill you” he said, trying to grab Shoupe.

A couple of cops grabbed a hold on him, while he continued yelling that he was going to kill them. 

“He didn’t kill anyone and you know it” Pope said. 

You hugged Kie, sobbing.

“We’re still looking for them, all right?” Shoupe.

“You fucking asshole, you made them drive right into the storm” you yelled at Shoupe.

Kie and Pope’s parents came to the tent and they hugged him. 

There wasn’t any sign of your mom so you continued to sob harder. JJ came over you and you threw yourself at him, continuing to cry. He hugged you so tight, almost breaking your ribs. 

Pope and Kie came over to hug you two, and you shared a group hug, a heartbreaking one.

  
  
  
  
  
  


At some point, you and JJ went back to The Chateau. Kie had gone with her parents and so did Pope. JJ’s dad was basically non-existing to him, and you weren’t in terms of speaking with your mom.

You laid on the bed, JJ’s arms wrapped around you. The sobs had stopped but the tears didn’t. 

“I’m gonna fucking kill Ward Cameron” JJ said.

You lifted your head to look at him. “No, please don’t do it. I lost my brother, I can’t lose you too” you cried. 

He sighed, tears coming out of his eyes. 

He hugged you and you buried your face on his neck, breathing him in, his scent so calming and peaceful. 

“I love you, okay?” he said.

You lifted your head and kissed him “Me too”

“Always” you both said at the same time. You kissed him again and rested your forehead on his.

And you knew deep down, that everything was gonna be okay. Or at least you hoped. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAHH well we've reached the end. 
> 
> But I'll let you know that my new story will be up soon. It'll be called “The Vacation”
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!


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